Temptations
by Velodis-Theory
Summary: This is a crossover between OUAT, DW and Heroes. Regina and Sylar find themselves on another planet, where they meet The Doctor. Now they have to find out what got them here and how to get back. On this quest they must face temptations and their past.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: This is not Maine**

* * *

When she opened her eyes, she was standing on a clearing.

A moment ago she had been on her way home, after having turned Robin Hood, the traitor, and his Marian, into full grown tortoises. Like expected, the others in the dinner hadn´t thought it funny. They just had no sense for humor.

"It´s just for a few days" she had explained while rolling her eyes.

But Snow and Charming had just looked at her disapprovingly, taken the reptiles, and left the dinner.

She had left shortly afterwards.

And now Regina stood on this clearing, wondering how she had gotten here.

She didn´t even recognize this place.

Looking around she spotted a guy, standing a good hundred feet away. He was walking around seemingly confused.

She strode over to him. Closing in, Regina heard him mutter something like: "That's not funny, Hiro!"

 _Who or what is a Hiro?_

"Who are you?" she demanded.

He turned.

They studied each other for a few moments.

Regina had to admit he was handsome. He had to be a little over thirty years, was quiet tall, around 6´2, and well built. He had brown eyes, dark hair and thick eyebrows.

"I am Sylar."

"Never heard of you."

"You haven´t?" he smirked, "Well, never mind. Who are you?"

"Regina Mills. I´m the mayor of Storybrooke." She explained, beginning to suspect, she wasn´t there anymore.

"Ok, Miss Mayor, what are you doing outside your town, city, whatever?" Sylar wanted to know.

"None of your business." She informed him.

"Do you know…" he seemed to struggle with himself.

Regina raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to finish.

He sighed. "Do you know where we are?"

 _So he doesn´t know either._

With a sigh she admitted: "No, I don´t."

For a moment they looked at each other.

Regina considered her situation. Sylar might be lying. Maybe he was responsible for her being here in the first place.

On the other hand he seemed like he had honestly no idea where he was. And maybe he was useful.

She decided to stick together with him for now, but she would be careful, not trust him too much.

"Shall we work together to find out how we got here?" she suggested.

He nodded slowly.

Then he said: "Okay, let´s try to find someone."

"Ok." She agreed.

Regina turned and began walking, looking for a way through the forest.

After a few steps she realized he didn´t follow her. She turned back to him.

Sylar was standing a few steps away, seemingly having walked straight the other way.

She fought back a grin.

"Perhaps we should actually walk together if we want to work together." He suggested.

"I agree." She waited for him to come over, but he was looking around, not moving.

"This trees are looking strange." He said, musing.

Now she had a closer look at them too.

He was right. They _did_ look strange.

The leaves seemed to come directly from the trunk. They had no branches.

Was this… another world?

With this thought Regina turned to Sylar and asked him: "Which world are you from?"

He looked at her confused.

"Earth." He answered slowly, somehow hesitantly.

So… he didn´t know about other worlds. And Regina certainly wouldn´t change that.

"Yeah, me too." She answered. It wasn´t a lie, not really.

Sylar looked at her strangely.

"So you want to tell me _that this_ _is not earth._ " He didn´t seem too convinced.

She shrugged, then she began walking towards something she thought was a path out of the forest.

After a few steps Sylar began walking after her.

"Wait!" He called.

"We can talk later!"

"Hey! Stop!" He had nearly caught up with her.

Regina just rolled her eyes.

Sylar grabbed her by the arm, turning her.

 _How dares he!_

She lifted her hand, throwing him back with her magic.

Regina smirked… then felt herself being lifted up and thrown back too.

She landed on the ground a few feet away.

Standing up, she ignited her hands, ready to fight.

Sylar was standing, his hands burning too. They closed in, then when only a few feet separated them they began pacing around each other, walking circles, watching each other closely.

"So you are an empath." He stated.

 _Empathic. Her?!_

"No, I don´t think so. You are a liar. You can´t be from earth."

He seemed confused. "Why shouldn´t I?"

"Because of your magic."

 _Idiot._ _Why does he still deny it?_

"Magic…" He said it, like she was the stupid one. "That's what you call it."

"How do _you_ call it, Idiot?"

"Abilities. And you are an empath. My ability is more powerful. I can help you."

He extinguished his fire.

"More powerful than me?! Only in your dreams. I have been doing magic when you were still wetting your diapers!"

He frowned.

"I knew you were older than me but _that_ much. Anyway… I can help you control your power. It´s nothing you need to be afraid of. It may seem like a curse, but it´s a gift."

"Are you even _listening_ to yourself? You sound like self-help-book. I. Can. Control. My. Magic!"

"Ok, do you know how you can extinguish this flames?"

"Yes, I do." Regina told him in her best sugar-sweet voice. Then threw the fireball. It missed Sylar by inches. And that was of course on purpose.

He didn´t seem too impressed.

"Without throwing it, I meant."

She lifted her left hand in which she still held a fireball and smothered it.

Then she stepped threating towards him, expecting him to step back, which he didn´t.

So now she stood really close to him and had to look up. Well, this decreased the threat and it didn´t help that she had to think that his height was quiet impressive. On the other hand…

"Your chin looks fat."

Sylar looked offended. He stepped back a little.

"It just looks that way because I have to look down at you because you are so small, _witch._ " He threw back.

Regina just rolled her eyes.

"And you smell like fish."

"`Cause my town has a harbor."

""My town" does your town have a shower?" He shot back sarcastically.

"Watch your tongue! I could just turn you into a fish!"

"You can do that? Impressive." And he did seem impressed. At least a little.

"I told you I´m more powerful than you." Regina said satisfied.

Sylar was looking at her strangely. Somehow… interested and wanting.

Then he turned away, abruptly.

Was he after her power?

Regina really had to watch out.

* * *

Not an hour before Sylar had been on his way to Jared Cartmen, a client of Mohinder and him. Jared had the ability of dreamwalking.

And he had to admit he hadn´t had the best intentions.

Sylar wouldn´t have killed him. He hadn´t murdered for about four years, at least not in order to get an ability.

He was in control of the hunger now.

But Jared was one of these weak people, who thought their abilities were a curse. Sylar had seen the potential behind it. A dreamwalker was not only able to visit other people's dreams and manipulate them, but was also in full control of his own dreams and could look deep into his subconscious.

So Sylar had gone to Jared to _understand_ his power.

Although he had sworn to never take an ability without the permission of the special in question.

He had sworn it on the same day he had promised himself to never be controlled by his hunger again.

And then out of the blue he had been standing on this clearing. At first he had thought Hiro had done that, but now that seemed highly unlikely.

Before he had time to phone his small japan friend, this woman had demanded his attention.

Regina seemed to be a powerful empath who was in good control of her abilities.

He had never heard of transformation before. Maybe that was why the hunger had hit him so hard. So he had turned away in order to regain control.

Sylar thought of something else. That had helped him a lot in the past. At first it hadn´t been easy, but as time passed he had gotten better.

So… this was another planet or _world_?

He was still trying to wrap his head around it.

Because he had no better idea he reached for his phone and dialed Hiro´s number.

There was no signal. _Of course not_. This was a damn other world or planet or whatever.

He swore, wanting to just throw his phone away. He took a deep breath, focused, than turned back to Regina. She was watching him carefully.

"Tell me more about other worlds." He demanded.

She shrugged. "There are many worlds. In some magic existed, in others it doesn´t. It´s difficult to travel between them."

She looked at him, sharply.

"That´s why you must be lying. You say you´re from earth, but there magic doesn´t exist."

"It´s called ability and I´m beginning to suspect that your-" he gestured with his hands. "-magic and my ability are something completely different."

He should have known earlier.

Regina had done magic before he had shown his power. Of course there was the possibility that she had gotten the abilities from someone else, but her "magic" had _felt_ different.

Sylar should stop offering his help, Regina seemed indeed to be in control of it, and would only be going to burn him in order to prove it to him.

He looked at her again. Regina didn´t appear alien like he would imagined. Not that he had thought much about the appearance of magicians.

In fact she looked normal. Expensive clothes if anything. She was pretty with dark eyes and dark hair. Although she was rather small she appeared strong.

Sylar made a mentally note to be careful. Perhaps magic could have brought him here, after all, who knew what witches did in their free time.

Now Regina was looking at him calculating, distrustfully.

Sylar still wanted her to be his ally. Even if she was the one who brought him here, which he doubted, she could still be useful.

"Ok, shall we?" he asked.

"And for what would I need your help?" Regina wanted to know. She looked at him arrogantly. Her tone indicated that she was used to people doing as she demanded.

"Well, your majesty-"his arrogant tone matched hers. "- for starters: the "path" you chose just leads further into the forest, whereas this path-"Sylar pointed to a different one. The one he had headed for from the beginning. "-will eventually lead to a town."

"Okay smartass, how do you?" Regina replied, crossing her arms. She clearly didn´t believe him.

He smirked. "Well… the path has been used repeatedly, can´t you see that?" he explained, rolling his eyes. "-and the trees are standing further away from each other, then the ones over there.-" Sylar gestured along the clearing. "If you would look really closely you would see the smoke- it could be from a city." In fact he had just heard noises that indicated a city. He came up with the rest while talking.

Regina glared at him. "Or maybe it´s just burning trees."

"Yes, or a burning city." He countered.

Regina sighed, finally giving in.

"Ok. Let´s go."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Village**

* * *

After about half an hour's walk, when it was already getting dark, Sylar and Regina reached a village. Even though she still saw no cause of smoke, she had to admit Sylar was right.

The village reminded her of the Enchanted Forest. Sylar looked around overwhelmed, which made Regina doubt he had ever been to another world. Perhaps they really were on the same side.

She stopped. "What do we do now?"

He looked at her. "You are the one knowing about other worlds. Ask one of your magic colleagues." He waved to a wannabe magician who was doing cheap magic tricks.

She looked at him disapprovingly.

"You can´t compare me to this court jester."

"Ok, ok, I just want to say we should look for someone who seems powerful."

She smirked. "So you´re calling me powerful."

"If you were so powerful you could bring us home, couldn´t you?"

"If I were so powerful I would bring myself home."

"So you admit you need my help."

Regina glared at him. But before she could shot something back, someone addressed them.

"Excuse me, where are you coming from? Your clothes seem so alien." said a strange voice.

She turned and saw a man standing next to them. He looked at them with great interest.

"We´re coming from another kingdom…"

"Then please dress normal, it´s an offense for our kingdom." he interrupted her.

"Please excuse us, I and my companion will change our clothing." Regina decided to play nice… for now.

"Would you mind telling us where we can find a magician?" Sylar wanted to know.

The guy just stared at him.

"I apologize for my inferior, he is easily affected by such magician stuff." She waved her hand towards the court-jester. Inwardly Regina rolled her eyes.

"I don´t know about such insignificance." The man said. With that he turned and left.

Regina glared at Sylar.

"You should leave the talking be my part." She snapped.

"How should I´ve known, it was worth a shot." He defended himself.

"We should try to not get too much attention."

Before Sylar could reply they were being interrupted again. This time it was an elderly woman.

"You shouldn´t stay out at night-it´s dangerous. If you want you can sleep in my barn."

They looked at each other for a moment.

This woman reminded her of Snow with her obsessive kindness and naivety.

"That´s really nice of you. We would be really glad to do so." Sylar answered.

Again, Regina glared at him.

 _What did I say about the talking?_

He looked back at her as if to say: _Well, you didn´t answer._

The woman smiled at them then she said: "Please, follow me."

Regina and Sylar glanced at each other again, then followed her.

"What´s your name by the way?" The woman asked casually.

"I´m Regina. This is Sylar."

"Nice to meet you, Sylar and Regina. I´m Ann."

* * *

A few minutes later they reached a barn, it wasn´t in the best state but acceptable.

Ann opened the door and they stepped in.

The barn was big and empty, apart from six mattresses.

Wasn´t this a barn? Wasn´t there supposed to be animals?

Sylar turned to Ann.

"What happened to the animals?"

"They died." She answered shrugging.

 _Well, this is really reassuring._

"Anyway… thanks for your hospitality."

"I hope you sleep well. Have a good night."

"Yeah, you too."

Ann turned.

"And don´t forget to bolt the door!" She called over her shoulder.

Sylar closed the door, bolting it.

He turned.

And blinked in confusion.

Where once had been six mattress now were only two.

And one of them was a big wonderful bed.

This had to be another one of Regina´s magic tricks.

Said witch was lying in the bed, wearing pyjamas, seemingly made of silk.

She was looking back at him, provokingly.

"What? A queen needs a real bed."

He ignored her as he sat down on the remaining mattress.

She grinned down on him.

"Your chin looks fat." He couldn´t help it.

Her gaze was offended, but then for a split second an amused smile graced her lips.

And then she threw a pillow at him.

"You may keep it." Regina added.

He grinned while pushing the pillow into the right position, before he laid down. Sylar had to admit it was really comfy.

"Soo, you were a queen in this other world, I suppose." He said, casually.

She was silent for a moment.

Finally she answered.

"Yes, but not exactly a good one."

He could heard this was a subject, she didn´t want to talk about.

But who was he to judge.

So he just said: "I understand."

Sylar could feel Regina looking at him, but he chose to ignore that, and simply added: "We should sleep now. Have a good night."

With that he turned away and closed his eyes.

"Yeah, you too."

Regina was still thinking about the events of the day. And there was a lot to think about.

The magic. This guy Sylar. The village. And mostly how she had gotten here. Only she had no clue on that one. She hadn´t really felt anything while being transported.

Sighing, Regina turned on her back and looked up on the ceiling. The only sounds to be heard were Sylar´s soft snores and the pouring rain.

Sylar… She still didn´t know _if_ she could trust him, but strangely a part of her did.

Again she had to think of how he had reacted when she had told him she hadn´t been a _good_ queen.

He had said that he understood… and Regina had believed him. There was just something about him that she could relate to.

Now she could hear Sylar turning in his bed. That made her think of her own bed, soft and comfortable because she had conjured it that way, and _that_ made her think about the magic in this world. It had felt different, more… hidden, but still reachable, at least for a powerful person like her.

Again she thought about Sylar, his "abilities", which were like her magic, and yet so different.

Sylar was definitely not from this world, his awkward behavior towards the inhabitants had only proven what he had told her earlier. Truth to be told she was glad to have him with her.

To not be alone.

With that she turned over and fell asleep not long after.

* * *

On the next morning, Sylar awoke by the light, falling through the gaps of the old barn. For a moment he closed his eyes. So… it hadn´t been a dream, he really was on another planet or world, with that strange woman.

Sighing he got up and stretched. Then he started with a few gymnastics. After a couple of minutes he turned and caught Regina looking at him. He couldn´t help but grin.

"Can´t you do that more quietly?" She snapped, but Sylar could tell she was kinda embarrassed.

"I´m gonna take a little walk." He told Regina, heading towards the door.

He had nearly reached it when her voice stopped him.

"Wait, we have to get changed!"

Sylar just wanted to turn and tell her that they hadn´t got any other clothes, when there was a purple smoke surrounding him. The next moment it was gone and looking down he saw that he was dressed different. It looked a little like the clothes of a simple citizen of the 13´th century.

He stared at it for a moment.

"What? Can´t you do that?" he heard Regina´s smugly voice. She sounded provoking.

Sylar looked at her.

She was dressed different too. Only that her cloths looked way more elegant than his.

"Never mind." He said through clenched teeth.

With this he turned back to the door, to finally get out.

Outside, he took a look at the surroundings. The barn seemed to be at the edge of town. To his right hand were foothills of a mountain. In the distance he could see a lake. Looking up and squinting his eyes Sylar could make out two suns. One was just rising behind the forest, they had walked through yesterday. Sylar wondered, if this was called east here too.

This sun seemed to be farther away or to be smaller.

 _How big would this planet be compared to their earth? And to this suns?_

Maybe he should seek out a library, or this planets equivalent. For a moment he closed his eyes and felt the sun on his skin.

Then he heard footsteps behind him, turning around he saw Ann approaching him.

"Good morning. So, you already got up. I hope you had a good night. Oh, and before I forget it, there is a river over there, so you can clean yourselves."

"Thanks for your hospitality again."

Looking over Ann´s shoulder he could see Regina getting out of the barn.

She addressed Ann, with quite a friendly smile, he didn't know she was capable of.

"Good morning. I just wanted to thank you for your kindness."

"You´re welcome. I´m glad when I can help."

She frowned.

"Where have you gotten this cloths from?"

They exchanged a look.

"We had them with us yesterday." Regina lied.

Ann looked at them suspicious.

"I would appreciate it if you would find another stay."

With that she gave a tight smile, turned and left.

Sylar looked at Regina reproachful.

"Well done. That happens if I leave the talking to _you_."

"Oh, come on. You didn´t know what to say either." Regina spat back.

Sylar just rolled his eyes.

"Witch!"

"Idiot!"

At this moment a scream tore through the silence.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: A murder and a new face**

 **Disclaimer: Of course I own none of these series.**

 **Also english isn´t my first language, so please excuse any mistakes.**

Sylar was running towards the scream, Regina right behind him.

First, when he had heard the scream he had hesitated. But when he and Regina had exchanged a look, both had started running.

In her eyes he had seen the same hesitation he had felt.

Often he had been the reason for screams like this. When a corpse with a missing brain had been found, back in his times as a serial killer, Sylar would stand at some distance, just smile a little and walk away.

But this was years ago. Mohinder and Hiro had helped him out and the last years they had worked as a team (along with a few others). Saving people, not killing them that is.

Now he shook of the memories to concentrate on the present.

He was just turning a corner and for a moment he was wondering how Regina could run in her outfit.

A little ahead Sylar could see a young screaming woman, who was pointing at something out of his view.

He came to a stop next to her and followed her pointing finger.

That was when he saw it.

A corpse with a torn throat. There were bite-marks and scratches all over the body. Sylar knelt down next to it. The body was a male maybe just a little over thirty.

All in all Sylar would tend to say it had been an animal-attack.

He stood up again and looked around.

The young woman now had stopped screaming and was sobbing silently.

A few women had arrived, they seemed to be some sort of knights at least given the fact that they were wearing armor which resembled those of knights in the 13th century.

One of them was asking Regina: "Have you seen anything?"

Sylar just wanted to share his thoughts on the kill, when one woman, about Regina´s height and with short brown hair, shoved him away.

"Go away, man!"

Sylar just managed to stay on his feet, while Regina was stifling her laughter.

After looking at the corpse for a few moments, the women announced, "It seems to be an animal-attack. The same marks as on the other corpses."

"Other corpses?" Regina asked.

"Yes, in the last months there have been several attacks." The aggressive woman answered a little bit hesitantly, perhaps wondering who this strangers were and why they weren't just travelling on, leaving this place far behind them.

"So you have a wild animal-problem?" Sylar concluded.

"Obviously." The woman sneered.

"In our kingdom we had a similar problem. But we solved it quite easily." Regina remarked.

Now another woman stepped forward. She was taller and had long blonde hair.

"So, you offer your help?" She wanted to know. She sounded hopeful, but there was also doubt in her voice, why would two strangers from a kingdom far away just help to solve their problems?

Sylar thought for a moment. His aim was to get back home, not assist such strange people. On the other hand… he wanted to be one of the good people now. _He was one of them._

Again he exchanged a look with Regina, saw in her eyes the same consideration.

He nodded at her slightly. _Let´s do it._

Regina took a deep breath, then turned to the knights and declared: "Yes, we do!"

* * *

"So, how do you plan to handle this situation?" Sylar wanted to know.

They were just walking towards a market to get something to eat.

Regina sighed. "When I was queen I organized a coordinated hunt. But I doubt they grant us this resources."

"So, we just search the forest and hope we find this animal." Sylar concluded.

"Yeah, but good thing is they trust us." Regina emphasized. It had been a long time since people had looked her in the eyes without fear or hate or suspicion.

"Or at least they won´t get in our way when we search for a way home." She added.

"Ok, are we searching for a way home or for this animal?"

Regina thought about this. She _wanted_ to do this so called right thing.

Now that she had a little distance to what had happened in Storybrooke she had a bad feeling about what she had done to Robin and Marian. She couldn´t blame them for being in love. Regina had been stupid for believing Tinker Bell that Robin Hood was her soulmate and the love of her life. She wasn´t like Snow or Charming always talking about how love could heal everything and blah, blah, blah. Sometimes Regina had the feeling the only one who shared this attitude was Emma. Despite being the child of true love and the one to break her curse, Emma and she got along quite well. Perhaps Henry was the reason.

Thinking of him she wondered if he was already worried.

God, she really wanted to get back.

That was when she decided to do this right thing. Then, when the other inhabitants looked at her with this doubt in their eyes again, she would feel better, knowing she had done the right thing without one of them urging her to do it.

"We´re searching for the animal."

Sylar nodded.

For a moment Regina wondered if he had similar thoughts.

Now they were standing in front of a stall, which sold something resembling meat.

Regina just wanted to speak to the vendor, when she was stopped by Sylar.

"How do you plan to pay?" He asked her.

She wanted to say she knew how, but embarrassed she had to admit to herself she didn´t.

Seemingly he saw her discomfort, `cause he smirked, then lifted his hand holding a small golden object.

Looking closer Regina saw it was a leaf.

She looked at him quiet impressed.

"You master alchemy." In the enchanted forest this was a curse, one would turn everything he touched to gold.

Sylar´s smirk only got wider.

"Let me handle this." With this words he walked towards the vendor.

Regina couldn´t hear what was being said, but she saw the awe in the salespersons eyes.

A few moments later Sylar came back to her with two big chunks of meat in his hands and a smile on his face.

"They are spiced already. He suggests to have them with poekels, which seems to be some sort of potatoes." He told Regina while handing her one of them.

"And without vegetables. That´s so typical for men." Regina remarked.

"This was his suggestion. I´m eating apples every day."

"That´s no vegetable." She commented, chuckling.

"I never said that and I´m eating carrots too."

Now Regina really had to laugh.

"So, you´re standing there with a carrot in both hands, nagging on it like a rabbit."

"No, I don´t know how you eat them, but I eat them like a normal person." Sylar replied, he was grinning and his eyes were softening.

They looked at each other for a few moments, then Sylar cleared his throat, saying: "So where do we get poekles?"

"You search for them and I look for a place to sit." Regina suggested, taking his chunk of meat.

Sylar nodded and they parted.

 _I have to look for a way to heat them._ Regina thought, not wanting to eat the meat cold.

After a few minutes of walking around, she found a free bench some yards away from the main crowd. She took a seat.

After a while Sylar showed up. He carried something that really resembled potatoes.

For a short time they argued about heating the meal up, but ended up just eating it cold, not wanting to attract attention.

The meal was surprisingly delicious.

While they were eating, they were talking about their plans. Sylar suggested to find out more about this world, though he seemingly thought it was a different planet.

That was something Regina had never considered, but he had a point there, given she had never been to a world that had two suns.

They were just arguing about going to a library, when Sylar suddenly stopped talking, turning his head. He had a concentrated look on his face and lifted his hand in a way that said _: Be silent_.

For a moment they were both silent.

Regina could hear nothing suspicious, just the normal life in a village like this.

Sylar frowned, than he jumped up and started running.

Regina had no choice but to follow him.

They ran out of the village and into the forest.

After about two minutes of running through the forest they came to a clearing.

Regina just wanted to ask Sylar what was going on, when she saw it.

A blue telephone box, looking out of place between the trees.

They exchanged a look then headed towards it. Maybe this had to do with them stranding here.

When they were just about ten feet away the door swung open.

A young man came out and looked around, when he spotted them he smiled widely.

"Hello, can you tell me if this planet is Muracloxaferaterrajuxalorius?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Aliens?**

* * *

Sylar looked at the man confused. He was a little smaller than himself and around thirty. He had short brown hair and kind brown eyes. He was wearing a brown tweed jacket… and a red bowtie. Neither Sylar nor Regina had answered the man's question about Mura… whatever.

He looked at them expectantly, his grin getting a little smaller. Then he said, more to himself: "Excuse me, where are my manners?!"

He came towards them his hand outstretched.

"I´m the Doctor. I´m here to investigate the spaceship crash, which has happened here some time ago."

"Ok. Stop it. We have stranded here the day before. And it´s very likely that you are involved in this." Regina interrupted him, stepping forward threating.

"The Doctor" looked at her surprised, stepping back a little. He raised his hands in a calming manner.

"Ok, whatever happened- I have nothing to do with it. I have never seen you in my life, I mean it´s possible that you know me but this would be future-me not present-me… ", The man rambled.

Now Sylar was really confused. Was this man talking about time-travelling?

Well, it was either that or he was completely insane.

"Ok, have you or have you not brought us here?" Sylar wanted to know for sure.

"No, I didn´t. But I´m sure I can help you back to… wherever you are from."

Sylar nodded. The man spoke the truth.

Regina, on the other hand, seemed not so sure.

"So you have absolutely _nothing_ to do with us being here?" She empathized.

The doctor nodded.

And again no lie.

"He says the truth." Sylar told Regina. "I can see it."

She looked at him for a moment, considering. Finally she nodded and turned back to the Doctor.

"You said you can bring us home?"

But he was more interested in Sylar. "You can see if somebody is lying? Interesting!"

With that he took something out of his pocket. The object was small and elongated and it started glowing and making funny noises as the Doctor pointed it at Sylar and moved it up and down.

When he was done he looked at the object. "Interesting, you seem to be from earth but there is something about you that seems to be… off."

Sylar didn't know what to say - this guy was really extraordinary.

Now the Doctor pointed the object at Regina, but just when it started glowing, it disappeared in a dark lilac cloud. The next second it reappeared in Regina hand.

"You are an _extremely_ unfriendly women, did _anyone_ ever tell you!" the Doctor exclaimed. He hold out his hand obviously expecting her to hand it back.

But Regina didn't even think so. Instead she started examine it.

Sylar stepped closer, wanting to take a look too.

The object had a distant similarity with a screwdriver, but more glowing and… different.

He couldn´t really have a good look because Regina kept turning it.

Sylar just wanted to take the object, when the Doctor interrupted him: "Hand it back, before you break something. It can be dangerous."

Regina just laughed. "How can this thing be dangerous?"

"This _thing_ is a sonic screwdriver. And it can do almost everything, save wood."

Sylar just wanted to ask what exactly it could do, when the Doctor snatched it out of Regina´s hand.

"Who are you, anyway?" The man didn't sound as happy as he did then he first got out of his telephone box.

"Who are _you_? _The Doctor_? Doctor who?" Regina demanded in return.

"And a doctor for what?" Sylar added.

"Just the Doctor. And you could say I´m a Doctor for time."

Ok, this was strange but he decided to leave it at that.

"My name is Sylar and this is Regina. I apologize for her behavior. You said something about bringing us home?"

"Yes, but I would like to help here first. You can help if you want to."

The Doctor looked at them asking.

"With the spaceship?" Regina asked sarcastic.

"Or I can bring you home right now." He offered sounding a little reluctant.

Sylar thought about this.

He really wanted to get back, perhaps the others were already worried that he might have gone back to his old serial-killing self. Like especially Bennet. Maybe they were expecting to find a corpse with an open head. He knew that not everybody was trusting him and he wanted show that they were wrong.

On the other hand it was a nice thing that here they didn't look at him in such a way. The people here didn't know about his past and Regina… she seemed to have similar feelings. And beside this, it could be a good thing to really help and experience an adventure. Aliens? That was new to him.

Sylar decided to help him first. They would see if the Doctor was mad after all, or if he really could bring them back.

"Ok, I will help you."

The Doctor nodded at him thankfully and then they both turned to Regina.

She was still thinking. Then she looked at him. After a moment she sighed, nodded at the Doctor and said: "I will help you too."

* * *

Now the three of them were walking through the forest. Sylar told the Doctor what had happened in the village. Regina wasn't really listening. She was wondering if they could trust this man. Well, he didn't seem like he wanted to harm them and Sylar had also said that they could trust him.

But she wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that he was mad.

She would just have to watch out.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the two men in front of her suddenly stopped walking.

Looking ahead she saw why - Someone was standing about 30 feet away, half hidden behind some trees.

She stopped and prepared herself to ignite her hands.

She could see it was a man. He was tall and his posture was aggressive.

Next to her Sylar hold his hands up, he seemed ready to fight too.

The Doctor stood a little in front of them, his hands raised in a calming way. Again.

"No need to attack, we don't want to harm you."

The man looked around cautious, he was breathing hard, his posture unchanged.

And then he leaped forward.

But before anything could happen, he was thrown back by an invisible force.

Sylar! He had one of his hands stretched out.

Regina stepped towards the attacker, hands ignited.

"I said there was no need to attack. We just want to help. So stop."

The Doctor looked at Sylar, accusingly.

"I´m just making sure he doesn't attack us. I won`t hurt him if he doesn't make me."

Regina was now standing directly in front of the man. He had a rugged beard and wild green eyes. There was something animalistic about him. Regina could see that the man was trying to fight Sylar´s telekinetically grip, but obviously Sylar had him under control. Fine.

Regina thought about the possibility that this man was the murderer. He was wild and most likely insane. But how?

Regina decided to just ask.

"Did you kill these people?" She asked threating, raising her hand.

The man just continued struggling, there was nothing about him, which indicated, that he had even understood her.

While Regina was still contemplating what to do, the Doctor stepped forward.

He placed himself between Regina and this strange man. Turning to Regina, he looked into her eyes and said: "Stand back." He didn´t sound as kind as he had when she had met him, not an hour ago. No, he sounded absolute firm.

Regina extinguished the flames, but didn´t retreat.

"Please, he is just afraid."

Maybe, the Doctor had a plan, he seemed so sure.

Finally, Regina stepped back.

She went to Sylar, who still had his arm raised, and stood beside him, still on guard.

The Doctor looked at the wild man for a moment. He still seemed afraid, but a little calmer.

"Let go of him." The Doctor said without turning.

Sylar hesitated. How should they get home if the Doctor was killed?

But he seemed to know what he was doing, so Sylar slowly lowered his arm.

Immediately the man jumped back, taking cover behind a bush.

"Don't be afraid. We mean you no harm. We just want to talk to you." The Doctor´s voice was calming as was his posture.

Slowly the man stood straighter his features getting more relaxed – more human.

"Let's start with the names. I´m the Doctor, this are Regina and Sylar. Who are you?"

"Larson. I´m Larson." His voice was very deep and husky.

"Ok, Larson, have you noticed a place that looks destroyed like something crashed into it?"

 _Yes, like a_ spaceship. Regina thought derogatory. She still didn't really believe in it. On the other hand…

Larson seemed to know what the Doctor was talking about. He looked around uncertainly.

"I remember a night, some weeks ago, something was happening… but it´s all so blurred, I can´t remember clearly."

"Just try to tell us what you remember. It might be important."

Larson still looked uncertain. But then he took a deep breath and told them about the night that changed him forever.

* * *

 _He was hunting a wimok (apparently something like a wolf, given his description). A big white wimok, who had killed a lot of people in the town. So they had given him the task to hunt down and kill this beast. It was getting dark then he had finally found his traces._

 _He really should have waited for the reinforcement, Larson knew that now. But then… then he had been so sure of himself. He was a great hunter, a former soldier, an expert with weapons, especially with his bow. He was sure he could handle one wimok- and it was a lone wimok he was sure of that._

 _And yes he could have handled one_ wimok _._

 _He remembered tracing the tracks to the cliffs. The wimok was there, just standing above a sheep (Seemingly that this people knew as a sheep was something like a rabbit in their world- really strange) he had just killed._

 _Larson had readied his bow, aiming for the head of this beautiful and dangerous creature. But he had to have made a sound, because the head of the wimok suddenly snapped up, and he was staring in its eyes._

 _Quickly he let go of the arrow, but missed._

 _By the time he was ready to shot again, the wimok had already jumped away._

 _Larson cursed, then he took up the chase, running along the cliffs._

 _A few minutes of running later, the wimok suddenly stopped. It looked up at the sky. Larson just wanted to finally shot it…_

 _But then he heard a strange sound, causing him to look up in the sky._

 _He hadn´t had the time to really comprehend what he was seeing… there was something big falling down…_

 _Before he could have reacted, the thing had already hit the cliffs and… he was falling._

 _He hit the ground and felt the pain, shooting through his whole body. He could barely move. He looked around in panic. Something was wrong. Everything seemed to… change. Larson couldn´t see the big thing that had been the reason for his fall, but he saw the wimok. It seemed hurt too. Hurt and in panic. The wimok slowly made its way towards him. Larson´s panic increased, he searched for his bow, but couldn´t find it._

 _He turned to the wimok again. It didn´t seem like it wanted to attack him. No, it just laid down next to him._

 _And suddenly his panic was gone. Larson felt calm. Maybe he was going to die. But the wimok was offering comfort. There was no need to panic. It was strange… the creature, he had been hunting before, now offering him its comfort- and apparently seeking his too… but it felt alright. He was slowly drifting away, but suddenly… he felt something strange. The pain seemed to be gone, but everything seemed so unreal. Was this how dying felt like? Somehow he didn´t believe so._

 _Hours seemed to pass, he must have lost consciousness, because suddenly the suns were beaming down at him… and the wimok was gone._


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Synergy

* * *

Silence followed Larson´s story.

The Doctor looked at the man in front of him. While Larson had been talking, he had changed.

Yes, he still seemed upset after going back to this traumatic experience, but he stood straighter now, not as tense as before. The wild expression had left his face and even his voice wasn´t as husky as it had been when he had started talking. His whole appearance was… more human.

The Doctor turned to the other two. Both of them were keeping their eyes on Larson. Regina looked confused, seemingly trying to make sense out of what they had just heard. Sylar on the other hand wore a concentrated expression, his eyes weren´t leaving Larson and something on his gaze was… dangerous, like a hunter watching its prey. Larson squirmed under their stares, but he didn´t try to run or attack.

"So!" The Doctor said, clapping his hands and startling everyone.

"Can you lead us to where this happened?"

Larson seemed uncertain, but nodded.

"Well, then let´s go!"

Larson didn´t move, his eyes darting between them. He seemed to be afraid to turn his back on them. Again he started tensing and the look in his eyes reminded the Doctor of a trapped animal.

Who could blame the poor guy? After all they had attacked him.

The Doctor groaned inwardly, he had to have a talk with Sylar and Regina. Violence was no solution, it never was, never would be. One thing was for sure, these two were different from the companions, who normally accompanied him. He had seen it in their eyes, the mistrust, the brokenness. He had felt it from the first moment, these two had seen more, _done more_ , evil than most. And he wanted to help them. Like always, he saw someone in need and felt the strong urge to make things better. But couldn´t they _see,_ trust was essential.

"We won´t hurt you, if you cooperate." Regina just told Larson.

He eyed her warily, seemingly mistrusting.

Stepping forward, the Doctor placed his hands on Larson´s shoulders. He flinched, but the Doctor didn´t let him go, but waited until their eyes met.

"Nobody will hurt you, we are here to help." He spoke reassuringly, looking him deep in the eyes. "Trust me, I´m the Doctor." Larson watched him closely, searching for a lie. A moment later, he nodded and stepped back. He threw a last checking glance at Sylar and Regina and finally turned, leading them further into the forest.

* * *

They walked for about ten minutes before they reached the mountain. The rocks color was a dirty white and it seemed to be about 600- 700 feet high. There were a few trees and other plants growing on the mountain.

"It happened up there." Larson pointed at some spot about 400 feet over their heads.

Following his finger Sylar tried to see the proof for a crash, but the rocks seemed to be intact.

Still…

He squinted. There was a spot were the trees seemed to be growing _into_ the rocks.

Slowly he turned, taking a closer look at his surroundings. Obviously, the trees and the rocks weren´t the only things, that seemed to be grown together. The trees around them appeared to be connected, and there were spots on them where some kind of flowers or bushes seemed to be growing inside of them.

Was that normal on this planet? Sylar tried to remember the plants they had passed before, but no, he didn´t think so.

Was this some kind of mutation?

Had the object, crashing down in the story, Larson had told them, been some kind of nuclear weapon?

 _Are we all contaminated by radioactivity by now?_ Sylar thought, panicking.

But no, what Larson had told them about was mere weeks ago. If there had been an incident with radioactivity, this place would be completely destroyed.

 _At least on_ _earth with weapons from earth_ , a little voice at the edge of his mind whispered, but Sylar ignored it. He turned to the others. The Doctor, who stood at some distance, was waving around with his "screwdriver", a concentrated, but somehow enthusiastic expression on his face. Regina was talking to Larson, who now seemed to be on edge again. Sylar walked towards them, wanting to ask Larson about the crashing object.

"No, I _am_ sure, that this is the right place!" Larson was saying right now.

Before Regina could say anything, what was undoubtedly an insult, Sylar addressed the other man.

"Larson!"

The addressed man turned in a flash, going into a defensive position. The expression on his face was wild, almost wolfish.

Sylar stopped in his tracks.

 _Wolfish, could it be…?_

"Give me a second." He said to Larson and Regina, who were looking at him expectantly. With that he turned and walked over to the Doctor, who was now standing on a rock, in front of the mountain. His strange device was pointed at a flower, coming out of said mountain.

"Doctor!" Sylar called him.

The Doctor turned around, his eyes not leaving his device.

"Well, look at this. " He spoke, jumping down the rock. "This is interesting, the Vivalirus- respectively Avivalirus-signature I get from these are interesting. Almost intertwined." He looked up at Sylar and smiled. "A really fascinating form of synergy."

Sylar had no idea that viva-whatever meant, but he had an idea what the Doctor meant with synergy.

"Can you tell me if you get the same signature from Larson?" He wanted to know.

The Doctor looked at him, surprised, then he nodded and turned to Larson. He moved his device at him for moment, then he stopped and looked at it.

Then he glanced at Sylar and nodded.

Sylar frowned. "So, Larson and this wimok have a connection?"

"It seems to be this way." The Doctor agreed. He regarded his device again. "But this is different- it´s more subtle and… in sync."

"Any idea what can cause something like this?" Sylar wanted to know. Somehow he believed the Doctor had more experience with things like this, given that as they had met he had explained that he was investigating a spaceship-crash.

"Whatever it is, it seems to be different with Larson. He doesn´t look like a wolf- I mean _wimok_."

"Maybe it´s different with living things that have a consciousness." Sylar wondered aloud.

They both turned, to watch Larson, who was just pacing up and down, his hands in his hairs, seemingly frustrated.

"Maybe it changed more about his personality than about his appearance."

Sylar shrugged.

"Well, I think the source is up there." The Doctor pointed at a spot about 300 feet over their heads.

Sylar followed his finger with his eyes.

At first he saw nothing, but after a moment of squinting he noticed that the rocks looked different- they almost seemed to be gleaming.

"Should we- " Sylar started, but the Doctor had already started climbing.

Just as he wanted to follow, he heard noises- the snapping of twigs and footsteps.

He turned, searching for the source of this noises.

It sounded like there were more than one or two people making their way through the forest. Still, they seemed to be a good distance away.

Frowning, Sylar stepped next to Regina and Larson. Both of them had turned towards the source of footsteps, which had come a lot closer by now.

Just as Sylar wanted to address the man, the branches parted and the knights, they had met in the village that seemed to be much longer than a few hours ago, stepped onto the glade. It were five women. Sylar recognized the tall blonde and the aggressive brunette right away.

They stopped and aimed their weapons at them.

All three of them went in to a defensive posture, immediately.

The tall blonde, who seemed to be the leader, talked first: "Hunter Larson, your knife has been found next to a victim from an "animal attack". Have you any excuse for this circumstance?"

Larson stared at her for a moment with wild eyes, then he turned and ran.

In a flash, he was gone.

"Hey!"

"Don´t let him escape!"

"Larson!"

The women attempted to follow him, but Regina raised her hands threatening.

Suddenly, the ground started to shake. Then it tore open between Sylar and Regina and the warriors. Roots were shooting out of the earth. The women stumbled back, shocked, while Sylar stared at Regina. She smirked and nodded at him as if to say: _Go, I have got this under control._

He mirrored her nod, then he turned and swung himself up in the air to follow Larson.

* * *

She looked after him for a moment.

 _Really, flying?_

She turned to the woman, who were eyeing the roots, warily.

There was no fight- yet.

"Listen!" Regina said. "I won´t attack you, but let us handle this."

That seemed to be an unspoken agreement between Sylar, the Doctor, Larson and her.

Because honestly, Regina didn´t think the knights had any idea what they were dealing with- to be honest the only time Regina had heard of something like this was with Red- now Ruby- and it had been others who had handled this. But still this morons seemed to not even know about magic.

The Doctor appeared to be some kind of experienced hero travelling around and helping where he could (So much good-heartedness- it almost reminded her of Snow and her naïve husband). After what Larson had told he seemed to be some kind of banned criminal. As for Sylar… Regina wasn´t so sure about his motives, but she had a feeling it had something to do with guilt.

"Who do you think you are?!" The brunette spat. She was the only one, who seemed aggressive, the other four stood further back- a wise decision.

Regina smiled at her.

"OK, first: It was _your_ choice to put us in charge for this. And second: We have got this under control."

The aggressive woman just snorted.

"Do you think we are just putting two strangers in charge and then just sit by and wait for you to do this, only to stand in your dept?"

Regina shrugged. "It would be wise."

The other woman was _fuming._

Regina could see she just wanted to attack her with her stupid sword.

She made one of the roots leash out at her, threatening.

Finally the aggressive woman shrunk back, hissing angrily.

"Look, I believe we can help Larson- given it actually was him."

Honestly, Regina didn´t think that Larson was innocent. Maybe he was some kind of werewolf or were-wimok or something.

"Larson is far from guiltless."

 _Who really is?_

Regina looked at the woman speaking. She was short and red-haired.

She seemed calm but Regina saw the hate in her eyes.

"Did you know he is in exile?" Without waiting for an answer, she continued.

"He broke into a weapon-shop."

The woman stepped forward.

"And when the owner caught him, Larson made him believe he would cooperate to be arrested."

The woman looked Regina right in the eyes, the hate now open shown.

"But when the owner turned his back on him, Larson stabbed him in the back."

She took a shaky breath and closed her eyes. "He was my brother. This psycho killed my brother."

* * *

He had been flying for a few minutes, before he spotted Larson crossing a glade, running towards a cliff.

Accelerating, to warn him, Sylar lowered down to land in front of him. That was when he saw, that Larson was moving on all fours.

Frowning but deciding that was neither important nor the right moment, he landed a few yards in front of the wolf-man.

"Larson!"

But the addressed man didn´t stop. He didn´t even slow down, he just changed his direction a bit and ran past Sylar. For a moment their eyes met.

These seconds were enough for Sylar to see that Larson was about to do. He saw the hate, the determination and fear.

 _He had felt all of it all this years ago in his shop, when he had been so desperate so filled with self-hatred, just before Elle had saved him. Beautiful, deceiving Elle. His angel who had brought out his monster._

Pushing back this memories, he spun around and telekinetically grabbed Larson, keeping him from leaping into death.

Carefully, he sat the struggling man down, making sure to keep himself between Larson and the edge.

Still, he didn´t quite lose his grip on the suicidal man, waiting for him to stop struggling.

When he finally did, Sylar loosened his grip. Larson just sank to the ground, as if Sylar´s telekinetically grip had been the only thing keeping him upright.

For a while Sylar just stood there, waiting until Larson caught his breath again.

Then Larson finally got up on his knees, he asked:

"Did you do it?"

Larson just kneeled there, looking at the ground. Giving no sign, that he had actually heard Sylar.

"Did you kill them?" Sylar repeated, stepping forward.

Still, Larson didn´t move, but just as Sylar wanted to press on, he whispered:

"They were right."

His voice was still so hoarse, but now it also sounded weak and delicate.

If it hadn´t been for Sylar´s enhanced hearing, he might have missed it.

Slowly, Larson lifted his head. The look he gave Sylar was strange, almost begging.

"Who? And with what?"

Larson eyes narrowed, suddenly he almost seemed angry.

His hands dug into the ground.

"They say, I´m a monster."

 _Monster!_

 _You are a monster!_

Sylar looked away from Larson, trying to think of something to say.

He wanted to tell him, that he could control the monster, if he accepted it as part of himself.

Wanted to tell him of Peter, Mohinder, Claire, even Bennet, who had given him the opportunity to change.

Wanted to tell him that they were working together now, a good team, helping people, who couldn´t control their power, stopping those who could but didn´t want to.

Wanted to tell him how he had beaten the monster inside him.

But all he could think of, was that no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't undo what you had done. You would never forgot about your guilt, never could really forgive yourself. And no matter how hard you fought there would be times, where the monster was stronger, because even if you tried to deny it, the monster was part of you.

And the others would always know.

"I´M NOT A MONSTER!"

Sylar jumped at Larson´s booming voice, he had been so deep in his thoughts, his memories.

Larson was staring at him, with rage-filled eyes and tears running down his face.

He was still kneeling on the ground, but he looked so wild, so dangerous.

Sylar took a cautious step back.

That just seemed to anger the man in front of him.

 _And he could understand._

"I´M NO MONSTER!" He screamed again, rising from the ground.

His posture was that of an animal about to attack, but his eyes were begging for Sylar to agree.

Wetting his lips, Sylar stepped forwards again.

 _He knew how Larson felt._

"No, you are not." He said, calm but determined.

Larson looked into his eyes, pleading.

Gaining his confidence, Sylar took another step forward.

"They don´t know you. They just see what they want to see." Suddenly he felt anger rising inside of him. "You are different, better, that's enough for them."

He looked at Larson.

"They need someone to be the villain, so they can play the heroes." He spat, his voice getting louder.

Now, it was Larson, taking a step back at Sylar´s unexpected fury.

"For some of them it´s all black and white, good and evil. They don´t care why you do what you do, or if you can control it. They just judge you and cry _monster_." Sylar was almost screaming at the end.

Larson was nodding furiously.

Sylar closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

When he looked at Larson again he was still nodding.

"They always just called me freak, only because I was different."

Larson looked at the ground.

"They won´t do this anymore."

"So, you really killed them?" Sylar already knew the answer.

"Before I had been afraid, but now after the incident…" He gestured with this hands, obviously wanting to indicate the crash. "… the fear is just… gone."

Now, it was Sylar´s turn to nod.

Larson smiled, but something about it made shivers run down Sylar´s spine. It was so… guiltless.

"They always made fun of me, because I was afraid of the darkness and close combat."

Sylar frowned.

"The others used to have fights, either with swords or just their fists." Larson explained.

"I never liked that straight-forward violence. That´s they I prefer a bow." He shrugged. "At a save distant you´re staying clean." Larson spoke with a calm, but enthusiastic voice. "I never liked the feeling of blood on my hands… or clothes."

Sylar had to think of all the times he had killed someone and dug in their brains with his bare hands, blood going up to his elbows.

Larson shrugged. "Now I don´t care anymore."

"Why did you run? And why did you want to jump?" Sylar asked remembering the look in Larson´s eyes as he was running towards the edge.

"I didn´t want them to judge me again."

 _Again?_

"Have you killed before the incident?"

"Only once." Larson answered calm, as if Sylar had just asked if he had already tried tacos, the desperation from before completely gone.

Sylar frowned. Was he wrong about Larson and the wimok?

Well, he could just ask.

"Do you feel different since the incident?"

Larson frowned. "Why?"

Sylar regarded the other man carefully. "I may have an idea that happened to the wimok… and to you."

Larson tensed again at the memory, but answered nevertheless: "Yes, I told you I´m not afraid of blood or the darkness anymore. And my fighting style changed."

"So, now you bite your opponent?"

Larson looked at him blankly, for a few moments. Then realization seemed to dawn on him.

"So, you are saying I´m… what?... a wimok in human form?" He gave a shaky laugh.

Shaking his head in denial, he backed away.

"NO… No… It can´t be!" Larson sank to his knees again.

"We can help you." Sylar tried to reassure him. Wondering for a second when Regina, the Doctor and himself had become "we".

Larson looked up at him for a few seconds, then he started laughing like crazy.

* * *

 **Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: We will be remembered**

He had climbed for a few minutes before he had reached the place where the spaceship had crashed in the rocks.

Now, the Doctor was walking around the glistening rocks scanning it with his sonic screwdriver.

Just like on the ground the Avivalirus-signature of the rocks were intertwined with something else. Somehow the sonic screwdriver wasn´t able to filter it out.

Frowning, he put his screwdriver back into his pocket and took a closer look at the gleaming rocks.

Looking from above, he noted that they stretched for about 75 feet.

When he had stood at the base of the mountain he had seen that the gleaming went down the side of the mountain.

If this really was a spaceship- which he didn´t doubt- it surely had an entrance.

Hoping it would be reachable, he took a few steps back and pointed his sonic screwdriver at the spaceship again.

After a few moments there was a screeching sound.

Smiling, the Doctor went to the spot where the door had just opened. It didn´t open completely, the not-glistening rocks stopped it, but it was wide enough for him and after a moment he was climbing down a ladder.

The room he entered was small but high and long. Everything seemed kind of lopsided, which was no surprise given the spaceship had crashed, not landed properly.

The Doctor slowly walked through the room, noting that it seemed to be the _only_ room. On the walls were a lot of machines. In fact there was nothing else, no beds, no supplies, just machines.

This was no spaceship made to transport any kind of living beings. So what was its purpose?

Was it meant to explore or destroy? Or was it meant to build? Was it meant to transport and somebody had already taken the goods? Only how? Or was it meant to transport goods to those who had sent the spaceship? Some kind of interplanetary trading?

Well, only one way to find out.

He turned to the nearest machine, taking a closer look. It seemed to be some kind of computer.

Only, he saw no switch to start it. The Doctor wanted to take a look at it from behind, but as he touched the machine, to keep his balance, it came to live.

Leaning back, he observed the screen. It was full of symbols, obviously some kind of writing.

It took him a moment to comprehend what he was reading. The language had to be really old. Like Time Lord-old.

Somehow, the symbols seemed to change as he was reading.

 **We are the Eyriéna´an!** Stood there in big and bold symbols.

His eyes searched the instrument for some key to search its memory. But there was none.

Just as the Doctor wanted to explore the rest of the spaceship, he saw out of the corner of his eye, that the letters had left the screen. Instead it now showed a picture of a humanoid form. Taking a closer look, he noted that the figure had long black hair and his ears there elongated towards the back of his head.

Seemingly, he controlled the computer with his eyes, given that the figure turned, as his eyes followed the ears. From this perspective he could see that the ears met between the head, which he imagined to feel strange. He looked at the right side of the figure making it turn back. The Doctor noted that the eyes, too, were elongated. Other than this, the face resembled this of a time-lord, or human, a lot. Beside the figure stood data, describing the Eyriéna´an, because this was the name of the race shown on the screen, saying they were about seven feet high and there were female and male ones.

The screen changed again now telling the character of this enigmatically beings, describing them as nature- and peace-loving, but fight-experienced. The Doctor had to think of faérias and elves, of baerna and illaríaen.

 _The Eyriéna´an live in small groups in forests in their home, Leiranon. They love music and to be left alone._

Just like in the legends.

 _Interaction between groups are seldom but polite. Nevertheless, when provoked the Eyriéna´an can become dangerous._

All this legends on various planets, were they actually describing the Eyriéna´an?

The Doctor read, that although nature-loving they were really advanced in technical matters. Actually they had visited other planets. But they became sick, obviously addicted to some kind of radiation, only to be found on their own planet, Leiranon.

Somehow, this seemed to have led to some kind of existence-crisis for the Eyriéna´an. They still wanted to be left alone, but somehow they also wanted the universe to know they existed. There was a really long text describing their search for a cure for their addiction. They even built a spaceship to try and see what would happen with children who were born out of reach of the radiation. But they all died. Also their attempt of synthetic radiation failed. Centuries went by and eventually they gave up. There was a period of time, were they developed their technology, music, stories and architecture, without trying to leave the planet. They just lived their lives. A lot of progresses were mentioned, but again centuries passed before a scientist found out, that their planet was dying.

The Doctor sighed, imagining the desperation of a whole race. He wished he had been aware of it. This poor beings, nobody had known of them, had thought that beings with long ears and a connection to the nature weren´t real. They had spun legends around the Eyriéna´an and those who believed them to be real were declared mad. Even on Gallifrey, books existed telling those legends.

Books, he had enjoyed as a child. Laying on the red grass under this beautiful orange sky he had dreamt of a world where the sky was dark blue during night and the baerna, this was their name in gallifreyan literature, lived on trees.

And now- as a grown-up- the Doctor learned that everything was true.

He blinked away the tears which had come at the memory of his home-planet.

How he wished he could have been on Leiranon to help this beings in need. But, if a whole planet with advanced technology hadn´t been able to figure a way out to survive, could he have done something?

The Doctor took a deep breath to calm down.

Then he read on.

* * *

While the Doctor was reading stories of a long forgotten race and Sylar was trying to calm Larson, Regina was still keeping the knights at bay.

It almost felt like old times, all those times in the Enchanted Forest, magically attacking those who hadn´t done to her bidding or those she hadn´t liked. Really, everyone who had stood between Regina and her revenge on Snow White. This had always been her plan. Revenge.

And now?

What was her plan now?

She had no idea what was going on. Was she defending someone innocent or guilty?

Where was the Doctor?

Where were Sylar and Larson?

Maybe they were just using her. Like Rumpelstiltskin. Maybe they were all long gone and she was still standing here, making enemies. For a moment Regina contemplated to just vanish. If Sylar and the Doctor had betrayed her, she would hunt them down and make them pay.

On the other hand… the Doctor had seemed so honest, so good-hearted. The only moment he had seemed dangerous was when she had been threating Larson. No, something told her that he could be trusted. Like he had said to Larson, before he had lead them here. _Trust me, I´m the Doctor._ It seemed like the name was a promise to help. Yes, she trusted him.

Regina didn´t know what had made her nod to Sylar, sending him to follow Larson and promising to take care of the knights. There was something about him…, not exactly something that made him trustworthy, but something that reminded her of herself. She had told him that she had never been a good queen in the other world and he hadn´t asked why, he had just… understood. That indicated he had done some pretty evil things himself. Technically, he could be a serial killer or a rapist, for all she knew. And still… she hadn´t been afraid sleeping right next to him. On the first day he had proven to be pretty powerful. Maybe, that just had made him seem worthy in her eyes, dangerous yes, but also worthy enough, so they could work together. And also it had been kind of funny spending time together.

So to sum up, she worked together with two potential dangerous and crazy men to help another dangerous and crazy man. And she trusted them, carefully, but she did.

Just great.

* * *

The Doctor was scanning through the data, but there was just too much. It seemed like theEyriéna´anhad gathered every last piece of information and saved it here. There were recipes, millions of them, and a long description of the art of hair brushing, in their defense with this ears it couldn´t be easy.

Still, it was too much- and what was his plan anyway? Even he couldn´t learn everything and teach it a whole planet or more. But it was the dying wish of an entire race, so what should he do?

Sighing, he closed his eyes for a moment to gather himself.

Maybe he should concentrate on discovering the purpose of this spaceship, because maybe the Eyriéna´an had a plan concerning the spreading of their stories.

For a moment he thought of Sylar and Regina. What were they doing now? Weren´t they a team in this? On the other hand, he doubted these two would be a help now. But maybe they could help Larson. Although he had been the one to promise him his help. Now, he had a bad conscience, but he pushed this thought aside. A race had to have priority to three people. And it wasn´t like they had been in immediate danger.

Then he turned to the screen again, this time searching for information concerning this ship.

Seemingly, it was their last resource. They send it into space shortly before they all died. Like a shipwrecked sending a bottle message with only _the hope_ somebody would receive it. Only no one would be able to save the Eyriéna´an. And their message was a lot larger than the traditional letter.

He skimmed through the technical data, again admiring the Eyriéna´an for their knowledge despite being so nature-loving.

"Ah, there it is." He whispered a moment later as he saw the section headlined with: "Measures to leave the mark".

 _To whoever reads this: We suppose by now you know who we are and what happened to us. The plan is for the ship to start the process itself. But if you read this something didn´t work. Now it´s up to you to take care of leaving the mark. Please, help us to be remembered. Make yourself part of something bigger and more complex than you can ever imagine._

 _If you are noble enough to help, place your hand beneath the screen and the computer will lead you through the process._

 _With hope. Daeren Lyien, genius technician and last of the Eyriéna´an._

 _Daeren Lyien._

 _The last one of an entire race._

The Doctor took a deep, shaking breath.

 _What a coincidence._

 _The last one of his kind._

 _What decision did he have to face? What consequences?_

He was long dead now.

And who was the Doctor to refuse his last request?

He placed his hand beneath the screen.

 _Debugging initiated._

A complex circuit was shown. Before the Doctor could comprehend it, the screen zoomed in to something resembling a transformer. Data blinked up next to it, seemingly the insulating layer was damaged.

Well, that was simple.

The computer showed him the spot. It was easy reachable. Obviously the whole ship was part of the circuit. Again, he could only admire this race full of contrasts. He opened the wall with his sonic screwdriver, being faced with a lot of conductors and other electrical equipment. Maybe it wasn´t just as easy as he had thought before. But it was a nice challenge.

A few minutes later he was done.

He stepped back to the computer.

 _Error rectified. Thanks._

The Doctor smiled. "It was an honor."

 _Please step on the platform- this is for your own safety._

The Doctor turned, searching for said platform. He was excited- what would happen now?

Two blinking arrows told him where he had to go.

As he stood on the platform a flickering shield surrounded him.

At first nothing happened. Just as he began worrying that something hadn´t worked and he would be captured behind the shield, he detected a soft humming all around him. He couldn´t just hear it, no he could feel it too. It was almost as if he could detect it with all his senses- and it was beautiful, so peaceful. It told stories.

He listened to the tale of how a dangerous weapon lead to a deeper peace. No he didn´t just hear it, he lived it.

Suddenly he was violently torn from the negotiations, there (?) each clan should take one part of the weapon. The ground was shaking, it took him a moment to find back into reality. He opened his eyes to a blinding light. Everything around him was changing, he could feel it. He was thrown to the ground, wondering if he had failed, and the last symbol of the peace-loving Eyriéna´an wouldn´t be one of wisdom but one of destruction. Would it be his fault?

Everything was shaking, changing.

Then it was over.

Or wasn´t it?

Momentary, blinded from the light, the Doctor wondered if the world around him was laying in ashes.

Slowly, he got up. He felt a breeze, but how was that possible? He was inside a ship.

Something around him was still shifting.

What had he done?

And then everything came to a top.

And he was no longer afraid.

He could, make out the sunlight, shining through leaves.

 _Leaves?_

And then he could see everything crystal clear. He seemed to be standing on a giant tree. Only it didn´t appear to be made of wood and leaves, at least not entirely. It also seemed to be made of rocks and something different.

 _Memories_ the leaves seemed to whisper. _The space ship_ his logical mind argued.

It was astonishing, this symbol of an extinct race.

So it had worked after all.

Smiling, the Doctor closed his eyes and leaned against a huge branch. He listened to the music, played by the breeze in the leaves. He could also hear a singing voice.

 _We are the Eyriéna´an. We were there before the beginning of time and if you remember us we will be here until the end of days!_

* * *

"Please, calm down. It doesn´t have to be a bad thing" Sylar tried to calm Larson, but the man had gone completely mad, laughing and shaking his head.

Then he began clawing at his own face.

"Hey, stop." Sylar reached for him, only to have Larson leash at him.

Cursing, he drew back his hand. It was bleeding, the wound was looking like it was caused by claws. He watched the wound close.

Then he heard it, the music. Beautiful, soothing.

He looked at Larson, searching for a confirmation he heard it too.

Larson had his eyes closed, hands slowly sliding down his face and falling to his sides. He had blood in his face, but seemed so at peace.

"Larson?" he whispered the name, because it seemed right. He didn´t want to interrupt the atmosphere of pure beauty. It was like being in church. Back before Chandra Suresh and Brian Davis, back at just being Gabriel Gray, he had been pretty religious. This music made him remember the trust he had felt during service. The blind trust everything would end well. The feeling of something older than mankind. Something that would be there _after_ mankind.

"I´m not afraid." Larson was whispering now.

Sylar just nodded.

"I will talk to the guards." Larson laughed, worry fading back. "I´m no monster. I just have a deeper connection to a different being. That is something good, something special."

"Everything will be good." Sylar said, knowing it was true. Because at this moment everything seemed possible. Even forgiveness for a monster.

"I know."

Together they made their way back to the mountain.

* * *

 _Magic._

That was her first thought when she heard the music.

But no, it was different.

More.

Regina released the roots from her control, because suddenly it felt wrong.

The fear the knights would attack her?

It was gone.

Looking at them now, she saw they wouldn´t.

They were standing there, smiling dazed.

That was when she noted she was smiling too, no beaming. She felt so happy.

Her eyes landed on the aggressive brunette, she was frowning.

 _Wasn´t she hearing the music?_

Then the woman threw back her head and laughed like a little girl.

Free, innocent, just happy.

* * *

Thousands of miles away, a young man is preparing for a big speech. He feels like vomiting, because he is so excited.

Then he hears the music. And he feels so sure of himself.

He turns and goes to the stage.

He will stun them all.

* * *

Just a few hundred yards away, a woman is standing on a bridge, preparing to jump.

Then she _feels_ the music. She is deaf from birth, but she can feel it.

 _Everything will be okay._

Smiling, she climbs back and walks to her family, a slight swing in her walk.

* * *

Far over the ocean, an old woman is watching a few children playing on the streets, from her window. Grieving for the sports she can no longer do.

Then she hears the music. And it´s okay.

She stands up and leaves the house, her walk like a young woman´s again.

* * *

There is a man, blended by his rage. He stands on the stage. Giving a hate sermon. The world is watching. The world is celebrating.

Then they hear the music. And the world stops.

For a moment he is silent. _What am I doing?_

He lifts his voice.

"Let there be peace on earth!"

* * *

The music is traveling over the planet.

Some can hear, some can feel it, a few can even _see_ it. But everyone can detect it. Every human, every animal, even the plants it seems.

There are a few who can make out a voice in the music.

But voice or no voice, the music tells stories of a long forgotten race.

Soothing those on the deathbed.

Comforting those on their side.

Taking desperation and giving hope.

Inspiring the clueless.

After a few minutes it fades. It doesn´t vanish. It will always stay on Muracloxaferaterrajuxalorius.

The memorial site of the Eyriéna´an.

* * *

They met at the mountain some time later. Or that (what) had been the mountain a short time ago. Now it was a freaking huge tree.

 _Yggdrasil_. Was Sylar´s first thought as he saw it. Because it was so huge and full of legends and seemingly made by gods.

He walked to Regina, while Larson approached the guard.

Standing together, they watched Larson give a confession. Then he held out his hands for the guards to handcuff him.

But the blonde leader shook her head.

"You won´t run away. Just follow us and there will be a fair trial."

Larson nodded, silently thanking her.

"So, he killed the weapon owner after all?" Regina asked, sideward looking at Sylar.

"Yes, he told me. He was full of bottled up hatred."

"And now he isn´t anymore?" Regina thought of Snow, it took her decades to forgive the woman.

Sylar shrugged. "Look at him. Does he seem hateful to you?"

"No, he seems at peace."

"Then we can hope he really is."

"What wise words." Regina remarked sarcastically, but smiling.

Sylar looked at her and mirrored her smile.

For a moment they stood side by side, watching Larson leave with the knights.

Before they vanished in the woods, Larson turned and met Sylar´s eyes. He was smiling softly.

"Thank you." Even if Sylar hadn´t heard the words with his enhanced hearing, he would have read the thanks in Larson´s eyes. Smiling, he nodded back. Then Larson was gone.

Just as Regina wanted to ask Sylar what Larson was, she spotted a figure climbing down the tree.

She nudged Sylar and pointed at the figure.

"Is this…?" She began.

Sylar laughed. "Yes, that's the Doctor."

"Why am I not surprised?"

A few minutes later, the Doctor had reached the ground.

He spotted Sylar and Regina and walked to them.

"This tree will become a huge memorial site. Not only for this planet, but also for those surrounding it." He told them as he stopped. He was looking so happy.

"Now, come on I can bring you home."

Together they began their way to the TARDIS, talking about what had happened on the planet.

As the Doctor was opening the TARDIS, Sylar said to Regina: "So this really is another planet. I was right."

"Yes, but technically you can also describe it as another world." Regina argued.

Sylar just wanted to reply as the Doctor opened his spaceship and he could take a look inside.

"It´s bigger on the inside." He exclaimed overwhelmed, the fight with Regina completely forgotten.

"I always get this reaction." The Doctor remarked amused, as he watched Sylar stepping in and out of the TARDIS trying to comprehend what he was seeing.

Regina wasn´t that overwhelmed, she had seen things like this before.

"It´s smaller at the outside."

The Doctor looked at her bewildered. Then he shrugged. "That´s the logical conclusion."

Regina nodded, stepping into the spaceship.

"Although I have to admit it´s even bigger than the things I have seen."

The Doctor walked to the consoles, greeting his TARDIS.

"So, from which time and which place do you come from?" He asked, a bit sad they would part ways now.

As the other two didn't answer, but looked uncertain, he smirked.

"Or do you want to accompany me to another adventure?" he offered, already knowing the answer.

Sylar and Regina looked at each other for a moment, then they both nodded.

"Yes."

The Doctor smiled, flipping switches and pushing buttons. There was one planet he had planned on visiting for a long time, but not alone. Grinning, he sent the TARDIS to travel through time and space.

"Geronimo!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: The Maze**

The ride was bumpy, but somehow fun. As the other companions before, Sylar and Regina struggled at first with keeping their balance in the TARDIS. Luckily they belonged to the people who didn´t throw up.  
When they finally landed on the planet, The Doctor walked to the door immediately.

"Here we are." He said, leaving his TARDIS excitedly.  
He had wanted to go to this planet for quite a long time. Sylar and Regina seemed to be the right companions.  
He turned back to them to see how they were doing. Sylar was just stepping out of the TARDIS, looking a little suspicious. Regina was standing a few feet away from him, looking around.  
They were standing on a stony area. In the most directions nothing was to be seen but stones. Only a little to their left was what seemed to be an extremely huge building.  
The Doctor knew that there was no roof. In fact it wasn´t even a building, but a maze. A maze hiding a secret. And dangers. That was why he thought that Sylar and Regina were the right choice to go here with. The two of them seemed to be quite powerful and strong. Yet sort of… lost. Perhaps he could help them finding themselves with this journey.  
And he himself was really interested in finding out what was in the maze. There were so many stories.  
"I guess we are going in this building." Sylar stepped next to him.  
"Right. It´s a maze. I hope you brought your toothbrush, this might take some time."  
Without waiting for an answer, The Doctor headed towards the walls.  
As he got closer to them, he saw that the walls were really impressive. They were made of what seemed to be white marble with golden and black lines. They were at least 20 feet tall. Still he could think of species tall enough to look over them.  
 _Kind of unfair._  
A few feet to his left was the gate which lead into the maze.  
"So what is waiting for us in this labyrinth? Treasures? Mythical creatures? The well with the water of eternal youth? The death?" Regina asked.  
"I don´t know. That´s the fun about it. It will be an adventure." The Doctor answered, smiling wildly.  
"If there are mythical creatures I hope, there are imps. They´re sort of funny." Sylar grinned, sounding a little sarcastic.

"They are not as nice as everyone thinks." The Doctor said.  
"Actually they´re total beasts." Regina corrected him.  
"However, Imps or no Imps, what are we waiting for? Let´s find out what´s in there!"  
Excited The Doctor stepped through the gate, Sylar and Regina right behind him.

* * *

Inside of the maze, the walls were hedges.  
 _How very classical!  
_ A little to his right hung a stone sign. He headed over to see what was written on it.  
"These are the rules. Or better the rule as it´s only one…"  
Before he could say what the rule was he heard a hiss and something bright and hot flew past him and hit the hedges. For a second it was burning but it quickly extinguished and the wall looked unharmed.  
"NO! Stop! We are NOT to destroy the walls! That's the ONLY rule." He exclaimed, whirling around.  
Regina just rolled her eyes.  
"We would be much faster."  
"The thing about mazes is that you search your way and not just … mow down everything." He shook his head. "Luckily the punishment will just happen after the third time."  
"So we can try something else." Sylar said as The Doctor wanted to turn around.  
Before he could stop the other man, he had already lifted his hand.  
Nothing happened.  
For a moment the three of them watched the wall. Then Regina said. "Well, this was _really_ spectacular. I´m impressed."  
"Your fireball didn´t help either." Sylar sounded a little aggressive.  
"I wonder what this hedges are made of." The Doctor said getting his screwdriver out and pointing it at the wall.  
At this moment the ground started shaking and then the walls started moving.  
"Nonono! I didn´t do anything. Stop."  
One of the hedges moved towards them and they had no other choice than backing away from it.

After about a minute the moving stopped. The gate was now out of their view.  
"Ok, at least now we know what will happen if we don´t obey the rule." Sylar commented.  
"And we know that it´s very fussy." The Doctor added, a little offended. "However this won´t stop us. Let´s go on."

They walked for about an hour, debating whether there might be other groups and if they would get punished if the other group disobeyed the rules. After a while their talking changed the topic to the lives they had lived. Seemingly, Sylar and Regina, both came from the year 2015 and from the earth. The Doctor noted that Regina was way more surprised by the concept of time travel than Sylar was. After a while of trying to find out what they did back there, he had the impression, that they all were keeping secrets. Well, he couldn´t force them to tell him everything. He didn´t tell them about Gallifrey either. It was too early, and maybe they thought so too. He wouldn´t press the subject. At least not now.

* * *

It started getting dark and since it was cold they decided to start a fire. After a while, they found a room which seemed suitable.  
The Doctor and Regina started preparing the fire.  
"I will have a look around here. Perhaps I will find something." Sylar said.  
"Be careful, we don´t know what awaits us in here." The Doctor warned him.  
"I will be fine." With that he left the room.

It was nice having some time on his own. The Doctor had talked almost constantly.  
Sylar had just intended to walk around their room, but that wasn´t this easy since he was in a maze after all. So he walked along the wall separating him from the others. At the beginning he had the feeling that it worked well, but after a while he was getting unsure. Shouldn´t he be back by now?  
Ten minutes later he had to admit that he was lost. He had listened, trying to hear the voices of his companions, but even with his enhanced hearing it hadn´t worked. He had to be too far away. And finding his way back was now even harder because it was dark. Really dark. He couldn´t even see what was only some feet away from him.  
He stopped, thinking about what he should do now. Perhaps it was best to just sit down and wait till the next morning.  
So he sat down on the wall. That was when he realized he was hungry. It was not The Hunger, not the craving to be special, he just wanted something to eat. In the TARDIS they had eaten and they had packed something too. But unfortunately he had left his bag with the others. So stupid.

So what now? Maybe he could fly. Not over the hedges, but he could take a look. If the fire was still burning, the chances were high, that he would see them. Even if the hedges would move again, Sylar would know in which direction to walk. So, he stood. He took off, only to fall down a moment later. He hadn´t collided with anything, the ability had just stopped to work.

Sylar thought back to a women he had met, a few years ago, she had the ability to look through walls. Then, he hadn´t thought the ability was worth another kill, after all he had wanted to change. Now, he wondered if it would help him, finding his

way back. He didn´t suppose so, given his abilities didn´t work properly here.

He would have to wait until sunrise, so he leaned against a hedge. Maybe he could sleep a few hours, his enhanced hearing would warn him, if…  
"Are you lost?" A voice right next to him asked.  
Sylar jumped up, almost screaming.  
Why hadn´t he heard anything? He had an enhanced hearing after all.  
"Are you fine?" The voice asked.

 _Can she see me?_  
It was a female voice he realized now, but it wasn´t Regina. She sounded too nice.  
"I´m fine." He answered, heart bumping wild.  
He tried to find the source of the voice, but couldn´t, although it sounded like she was standing just a foot away from him.  
"My name is Vy`an. I can help you, if you want. I know a lot."  
Sylar remained silent. He didn´t know if he could trust her. _Who knew which magical beings or whatever lived here._  
"I don´t want to hurt you. I want to help you because I´m a good person. Good people do things like this." Vy`an added. "I can´t tell you where the maze ends -that´s a secret- but if you are looking for someone I can help you find them. I have been here for quite a long time and have a feeling for this."

 _Then why are you still here?_  
He decided that he could give it a try. Even if she turned out to be dangerous he could defend himself and kill her if it was necessary.  
He didn´t think this was likely to happen. Even though her voice was this of a women about his age, she sounded like a child. And she really might help him. He just had to be careful.  
"I have lost my companions. You said you could find them?" He finally said.  
"Oh, yes. I think so. How can I call you?" She sounded cheerful.  
"I am Sylar."  
"Just some minutes ago I saw someone. I don´t know if they belong to you, but we could start there, can´t we?"  
Sylar nodded.  
"Great, this way."  
 _She can see in the dark._  
He had to admit that this was the main reason why he had decided to stay with her. He wanted this ability.  
And even though he didn´t want to, the smirk appeared on his face as he followed her in the dark.

* * *

Regina watched The Doctor drawing a map. It was nearly an hour since Sylar had left and she started wondering whether something had happened to him.  
"We should look for Sylar. This map is useless when the walls move again." She told the Doctor impatiently.  
"Perhaps they won´t move again. It´s on us whether they do or not. But you are right we should look for him." He said jumping up.  
"The question is _how_ do we find him. It´s dark and we´re in a maze. Of course we can just run around and hope meeting him by chance, only most likely we will get lost too. On the other hand we don´t really know where to go ourselves so we can take that risk."  
"And what about your map?"  
"Well, at the moment it´s quite useless, but if I continue drawing it and the walls don´t move again it might eventually help us."  
Regina shrugged. "If you say so."  
Then she extinguished their fire and they left.

"We should try to stay together. Obviously it´s not easy to find someone again once you have lost him." She told The Doctor as they walked into the darkness.

"Yes, good idea."  
They walked in silence for a while, only occasionally calling Sylar´s name.  
Every now and then The Doctor asked her to ignite the fire, so he could add something to his map.  
"How long have you known him?" He suddenly asked her.  
"About a day longer than I know you. Why do you ask?"  
"I might be wrong, but you seem to be worried about him."  
"Do you think I should just sit around doing nothing? I think we´re here to find the secret of the labyrinth, aren´t we? Sitting in that room won´t bring us anywhere." She didn´t know why she felt this offended by his guess. Perhaps she was just tired of people wondering about what she was feeling or what she wasn´t feeling.  
"Ok, I´m sorry I didn´t mean to offend you. It was just a question." He apologized quickly.  
"Just shut up then." She told him, increasing her pace.

* * *

Sylar had followed Vy`an for a few minutes now. The Hunger was growing stronger with every step he took. He had to admit that he didn´t want to find the others anymore, he only wanted this ability. -He didn´t want to find the others afterwards, they would see the blood on his hands. NO, he wanted the Doctor to take him home, home where he was in control of the Hunger. NO, he wanted to accompany the Doctor. There could be people with abilities on other planets. He would collect them all. He would become the most powerful being in existence. He would… No No. No.-Feeling so desperate Sylar looked in the direction where he expected Vy`an, she really seemed to be a good person. She wanted to help him.  
And besides he wasn´t that killer anymore. _Or was he? What was he? Monster or hero?_  
Still he couldn´t help but think about how great it must be to see in the dark. You had an advantage to the people who couldn´t, you didn´t need to worry about something lingering in the dark. _He was so much more_.  
Vy`an stopped him.  
"I think we´re close to them now." She said, sounding happy. Happy that she could help him, a stranger. A stranger who might be dangerous. Who _was_ dangerous.  
At this moment he couldn´t fight it any longer.  
With a quick movement of his hand he threw her against the wall, not needing to see her for that.  
He had to think of all the times, he had done this. It felt so usual, almost _normal_.  
Her shocked scream hurt him. But this didn´t stop him. It never had. Never would.  
"I´m sorry." He whispered, smirking. "But you have something what I need."  
With that he started cutting.


	8. Chapter 8

**Breaking The Rule**

 _I will be even more powerful._

That was all he could think.

But something was off. It only came to Sylar´s consciousness as Vy`an´s screams had stopped and he was digging in her brain.

Still he didn´t stop to think about it. Not until he was done and raised from the ground satisfied.

Satisfied that he had gained another power. That he had ripped it from one more being. He had taken another life. Had failed again.

Torn between the sensation of satisfaction and failure, Sylar looked at his hands. It was only then, that he realized, that he could see in the dark. Could see the blood on his hands, the witness to his deed.

Only… it wasn´t blood. It was much darker and thicker.

He looked over to his victim, his heart beating loud.

He wasn´t looking at a human being. The body was very small with extremely thin arms and legs. The skin was slightly green. But the worst thing were the eyes. While the rest of the body had at least resembled this of a human, the eyes were insect-like. Huge facet-eyes glared at him, the dark liquid all over them.

Sylar stumbled back against the wall. He lifted his hands again, staring at them in panic.

 _What have I done?_

For a moment he wondered if his eyes might change into this now. But that was ridiculous, wasn´t it?

A sudden noise ripped him out of his thoughts. Alarmed he looked up. What he saw made his heart skip a beat. Vy`an was moving.

But as he watched her slowly getting up, he felt calm in a very strange way.

 _I deserve this. I´m a monster and I deserve this nightmare. Because monsters belong into nightmares._

The creature fixed it´s eyes on him and he just stared back, numb.

"I wanted to help you." She said.

It would be so much easier to fight her, if her was voice was alien, distorted with anger.

But no. Her voice was normal, almost calm. Only the happiness from it was gone. Replaced by disappointment.

She had just wanted to help him. And he had attacked her.

 _Nobody can help me._

As she got closer, Sylar closed his eyes, not wanting to see hers. This facet-eyes. The accusing. Not wanting to see at all. It all was just a witness of his failure.

On the other hand... she wasn´t dead. He hadn´t killed her. Vy`an was still alive.

Back pressed against the wall with his eyes closed, he felt her touching his arm.

"I don´t want to die. You will die instead. You will pay the fair price for what you have done."

 _She still sounds like a child._

Vy`an stepped back from him and he opened his eyes.

In her hand she held his watch.

"What do you want with it?" He didn´t want to lose the watch. For some reason it meant a lot to him.

"I just told you."

 _What?_

Was she dying but could change her fate with him, by somehow using the watch?

Suddenly, Sylar´s survival-instinct kicked back in.

He took a step towards her.

"Please, don´t. I…"

"What? You want to survive? What about me? Who do you think you are?" She spat out.

 _A monster!_

She started walking away from him, without looking away.

"Please, no."

 _I´m on the road to redemption. I met someone who actually might understand me. This was just a relapse. It won´t happen again. I promise!_

But how often had he said that before and failed nevertheless.

Vy`an threw something at a wall with a quick movement.

As the ground started shaking, she turned and ran.

Without thinking, Sylar followed her.

* * *

Regina watched impatiently as The Doctor drew into his map. She still didn´t believe that it would be useful.

She had to admit that she was worried about Sylar. Perhaps he had betrayed them or just left them behind. Or something had happened to him. She hated not knowing what was going on.

And not knowing what she was thinking of Sylar. Feeling for him.

Pushing those silly thoughts away, she addressed The Doctor. "Are you finally done with your senseless map?"

"For the moment… yes." He answered, while adding something. Then he finally put the map away. Regina just wanted to extinguish her fire, when The Doctor stopped her.

"What now?" She asked impatiently.

"There is something."

 _What an accurate description._

He walked past her and bent down, picking something up.

She stepped closer.

In his hand he held a stone. It had the size of a fist and looked quite pretty.

He put it in his pocket.

"It might be useful."

 _Sure, just like the map._

"Let´s walk on." She extinguished her fire.

In this moment the ground started shaking.

Quickly Regina ignited her fire again. The walls started moving.

"This time it really wasn´t me." She heard The Doctor over the noise.

Unlike the last time, the walls were now moving quite quick.

They had to back away from a wall that was moving in their direction.

As another wall moved towards them, Regina started getting worried. They could get squeezed, if it wouldn´t stop soon.

But the walls didn´t stop. If they didn´t want to die they had to think of something.

"Climb on the walls!" The Doctor exclaimed.

Without questioning his idea she started climbing. The problem was that she had to put out the fire.

However, climbing up was rather easy and she was on the top after only a few moments.

The walls were about three feet in the width so keeping the balance on them also wasn´t hard.

Still, being on top of a wall, which was moving around quickly in total darkness, wasn´t a good feeling. It seemed like there was nothing they could do right now. Like they could only wait it out.

Again, she wondered what was going on with Sylar. Was he responsible for this? Did he find shelter?

"What if the walls don´t stop? We can´t stay like this forever." Regina wondered aloud, trying to push the thoughts of Sylar away.

"Can you ignite the fire again? We might see something."

She did.

There was nothing that could help them. The only thing she could see were the moving walls.

But then she looked down, she saw something else.

"Is this a door?" Regina asked, pointing in this direction.

"I think you are right."

"Let´s go there."

This wasn´t easy since the walls where moving and she had to concentrate to keep an eye on the door.

Luckily right now the wall moved closer to the door.

She looked at The Doctor and he gave her a nod.

Then they jumped off the wall. She decreased their fall, so they landed on the ground softly.

As they were running towards the door she hoped that no wall would cut off their way.

And it worked. They reached the door without problems.

The Doctor took the handle, to open the door.

It didn´t move.

 _It needs a key._

A wall behind them was coming closer, threatening to squeeze them.

Regina concentrated on her magic, trying to stop the wall. It didn´t halt, but at least moved more slowly.

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw The Doctor taking something out of his pocket. It was the stone.

He held it to the door and suddenly it opened.

They got in and closed it as the wall was only about two feet away.

"I knew that the stone would be useful."

* * *

Sylar stopped. He couldn´t see Vy`an anymore. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on his hearing.

He couldn´t have lost her. That would be his end and he couldn´t allow that. Mustn´t allow that. He had failed again but that shouldn´t be the last thing he ever did in this life.

On the other hand… he was immortal. So she couldn´t kill him. Right?

Then he heard something. From his right. It didn´t even seem to be far away. Quickly and as quietly as possible he walked along the wall, hoping he could find a way on the other side.

And he was lucky, only a few feet away there was a passage. He quickly rounded the corner ready to freeze her with his telekinetic grip.

He didn´t want to take the risk. Vy`an was a being from another planet, Sylar didn´t know what she was capable of.

She was holding his watch in her hand and had a concentrated look in her face. She didn´t see it coming. And this time her scream didn´t hurt him.

He ignored her pleas and started cutting, this time her throat. But before he could kill her, a wall moved between them, saving Vy`an from her fate.

Sylar was getting tired, and somehow this made him angry. The killer- the predator- instinct was kicking in. _Or was it just a survival-instinct?_

"I will find you and I will kill you." And he would enjoy it.

* * *

The room was empty. And fortunately the walls didn´t move. Unlike on the outside they were made of some sort of stone. The ground and the ceiling looked the same.

The Doctor wondered what this room was for. It seemed like it was the next part after the maze, perhaps a riddle. But there was nothing in it.

On the other hand, this might exactly be what the riddle was about. Finding out what the riddle was.

Or it was a trick to keep them from finding the real goal. Or a trap.

He took a closer look at the stones. Perhaps there was something to be seen that would help them.

But no, they were completely smooth, all in the exact same shade of dark grey. Still there must be some sort of light source, for they could see.

Again the Doctor wandered around, this time in search for the light source. And again he found nothing at all.

But then he realized that there were no shadows, meaning that the light must come from all around them.

"And of course, the door is gone too." He heard Regina say.

"I think this is a riddle. If we solve it correctly we come to the next part."

"And what _is_ the riddle? I see nothing at all."

"Well, this might exactly be what it is about."

He turned to her. And was shocked by what he saw.

"STOP! You´re standing in front of an abyss."

"What? Here isn´t anything."

"Trust me."

He saw that she took something out of her pocket and threw it down.

It fell for a few seconds before it vanished out of sight.

"Do you believe me now?"

Regina stepped back.

"How is this possible? This doesn't make sense." She looked down, concentrated, seemingly trying to see.

"Well, I think, this is the riddle."

He carefully took a step forward, before turning to her again.

"A little to your left is a slab, you can step on."

She sighed before going to her left.

"Yes, right in front of you, not a big step."

And so it went on.

For the next minutes he guided her on the- for her- invisible path. But then the path stopped.

"Stop. There are no slabs."

"Don´t tell me this was all in vain." She turned, sounding a little angry.

Then she frowned.

"Wait, there is a passage in the wall." She pointed in the direction.

The Doctor turned but he didn´t see it, so this time it was Regina´s turn to guide him.

A moment later he found it.

"I will be right back." He called over his shoulder.

Behind the wall was a ladder, which he climbed up.

On the top was a little platform from where he could look down in the room he was before. A bridge led to the other side.

He was sure that he hadn´t seen that before, when he had looked up.

As he looked down now, he saw the next slab in front of Regina.  
"Can you hear me?" He called down.

She looked up.

"Yes, where are you?"

"I´m above you. There is another slab, to your right."

He watched her carefully stepping on it.

When she stood on it, it slowly started lifting.

A minute later she stood next to him.

"Well, that was great, wasn´t it?" He beamed at her.

She nodded. "I think we nearly made it."

Together, they walked over the bridge.

On the other side, an entrance led into another room.

To their left a door led back into the maze.

Across from it was a bigger gate, which blocked their way. On both sides hung two chains with cans on them. It seemed to be the next riddle.

As they made their way towards it, Regina suddenly felt it. Dark magic. It seemed so familiar and alien at the same time. Somehow it reminded Regina of the two sided candle, which had killed her mother. Had Sylar something to do with it? Concerned, but also curious, Regina turned to the door leading to the maze.

"I will look for Sylar." She told the Doctor.

"Okay, I will already start with this task."

* * *

He had wandered in the labyrinth for quite long now, a part of him had already given up. Still, Sylar didn´t want to sit down and just wait for the end. If it came. When he kept walking he might find Vy`an and save his life, by taking hers.

He didn´t know how to look for her more effective. The noise of the moving walls made it hard to listen, even though he had an enhanced hearing. And he was tired.

Suddenly he felt strange, like something was happening with him.

 _Vy`an!_

She had started her ritual or whatever it was.

Fear was rising inside of him and he looked around in panic. All around him the walls were moving, Vy`an was nowhere to be seen.

And then the walls were gone. He blinked almost expecting them to come back. But they didn´t.

Was he hallucinating? Did it come from the ritual?

Again he looked around, this time with a new hope. If he wasn´t hallucinating he might find her.

And, yes he spotted her about 100 feet away from him. He started running there this time not caring to be silent. The problem was that he was too weak to run. In fact with each step it was harder for Sylar to even keep walking. But now he wouldn´t give up.

As he was only about 30 feet away, he suddenly felt a searing pain in his forehead. Gasping in pain he touched his forehead to see what was happening. He felt something wet on his hand and as he lowered it, his eyes confirmed his fear. It was blood.

He look up again, determined not to let this happen.

But the pain made it even harder.

His legs just gave in and he fell to his knees.

With all the strength he still had left, he looked at her, lifting his hand to stop this telekinetically.

It wasn´t enough. Vy`an didn´t even seem to notice.

He dropped his hand and closed his eyes, breathing hard. This was what his victims had felt when he had killed them. Only he had looked at them, watching their faces deform in pain, fear and sometimes anger. But Vy`an wasn´t even facing him. She was standing with her back to him, not watching as his skull was cut open, to expose his brain… He couldn´t plea her to stop nor could he threaten her. Also unlike his victims he could move, well technical… there was no force binding him, still he was too weak. Just like others, like a normal human. Too weak to live. Failing against someone, who stood above him in the food chain. And he had always thought he was on top…

Suddenly the pain was gone.

Sylar opened his eyes, wondering what was happening now. His mind felt foggy and there was blood in his eyes, so it took him a while to comprehend what he was seeing.

Regina was standing behind Vy`an. In her hand was something red glowing.

As he watched, Vy`an suddenly collapsed. She fell to the ground, not moving anymore.

The thing in Regina´s hand had fallen to ash.

She stepped over to him with a concerned look in her face. Immediately he averted his eyes to the ground.

 _How can she be worried about me?_

The cut in his forehead started healing, but he still remained on his knees, avoiding her eyes.

With his gaze fixed on the ground, he saw a dark purple cloud forming out of the corner of his eyes. After a second it vanished. His forehead felt cleaner and he knew that Regina had done it with her magic.

"Thank you." He whispered, finally lifting from the ground. He still didn´t look in her eyes.

She nodded and started walking away.

"This way."

Without looking back he followed her.

* * *

The labyrinth was about two miles in the length and one and a half in the width.

Luckily the room they were heading for wasn´t this far away from where she found Sylar. Regina wasn´t sure if she would have made it in time if it had been further away.

They had walked for about fifteen minutes in silence now and were almost there.

She knew that he didn´t want to talk but they had to.

When the room was only a few feet away she finally addressed him.

"We have to talk."

He stopped but didn´t turn.

With her eyes fixed on his face she started talking.

"I heard of this ritual and I know that… I know what is necessarily for it to work. I am not one to judge you. I´m far from it. From the start I knew you were not innocent. And you knew I am neither."

She knew that he understood, because he closed his eyes and nodded.

"Of course I don´t know what exactly happened and you don´t have to tell me. You shouldn´t tell the Doctor, he is different but I…"

She took a deep breath before finishing the sentence.

"I´m not better than you."

Finally he looked at her. They locked eyes for a moment and there was some sense of understanding between the two of them, which she never had experienced before.

When the moment had passed, they nodded at each other and continued their way.


	9. Chapter 9

**A Sudden End**

"Finally, why did this take so long? However, I finished the riddle, we can walk on."

Before either of them could answer, the Doctor had already stepped through the gate, which was open now.

Regina looked at Sylar. He nodded at her and they followed the Doctor.

The other side of the gate looked like the inside of a very big old house. A long dark corridor lead away from the entrance, on both sides were many doors. The only light sources were impressive chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

As Regina took a closer look at the doors, she saw that each of them had some kind of plate on it. The one she was looking at showed a long intersecting arrow. She turned around to look at the door on the other side. The arrow on it was just as long and intersected as the one before.

Taking a look along the hallway, she suspected that the others were just the same.

The sound of a door being opened made her turn around. Sylar was looking through a door.

"Not another maze!" He said, his voice sounding angry.

Regina stepped behind him. The door lead into another corridor, which looked exactly like the one they stood in now. She flinched as he slammed the door shut with a loud bang.

"Hey, careful!" The Doctor said.

"What? It´s not like this building is feeling anything." Sylar sounded very impatient.

"You can´t know that."

For a moment the two men stared at each other. Finally the Doctor looked away.

"I think the symbols give us a sign. They might help us to find the way. We just have to find out what it means and will be done here in no time." He said indicating to a door.

"Have you any ideas yet?" Regina asked keen on keeping her voice calm.

She laid her hand on Sylar´s arm hoping to calm him with it, but he just ripped his arm away and turned away from her.

"I have an idea but I´m not sure yet. It´s better to stay here until we know where to go. We could get lost otherwise."

He took a look at Sylar.

"Perhaps it´s better if I look around alone. You are distracting me. Just stay here, I will get you when I have figured out this riddle."

With that the Doctor turned and walked away.

Regina watched him for a moment before she looked at Sylar.

"Are you okay?" She asked in a low voice.

He remained silent for a moment. When he finally spoke he didn't even look at her.

"I was a normal watchmaker. I had big dreams but I didn't want to hurt anyone. But then I came in contact with this powerful world… he told me I was so powerful… but I was different from how he thought I was and he… sent me away. But I was more. Better. And I began searching, knowing he was wrong… and I found it in me. So I became powerful, evil. Not able to resist the hunger for power. I have the ability to take power from others – but I have to kill for it. Vy`an could see in the dark, that´s why she had to die."

He paused and then spoke with a slightly trembling voice.

"I wanted to stop. The hunger is like an addiction. And I always fell back to it. Perhaps I´m just too weak."

He closed his eyes and took a deep shaking breath. Suddenly he looked up again and stepped closer to her.

"I didn´t choose this ability. However I have it and I can´t fight it. And nobody can understand me. But that´s just all what I want."

His voice had been very urgently only the last sentence had come out in a whisper. He stood right in front of her and their eyes were fixed.

Again she laid her hand on his arm and this time he didn´t pull away but hold their eye contact, a pleading look in his eyes.

Regina opened her mouth not exactly sure what to say. Before she could say anything the Doctor`s voice interrupted her.

"Come over, I know where to go."

Slowly Sylar and Regina stepped away from each other.

"Let´s go." She said after a moment.

* * *

In silence they walked in the direction from which they had heard the Doctor call. When they finally saw him after a few minutes he immediately started talking.

"It´s actually really simple. Each door shows the way from the entrance to the end. We just have to follow the signs. Let´s start this way."

Again he just started walking without waiting for them. With a sigh Regina followed him through the door.

For the next half of an hour the three of them walked through the corridors. Finally the Doctor stopped in front of a door.

"That´s it."

Taking a closer look at the door Regina saw that it looked exactly like the others.

However she believed that the Doctor was right. He seemed to be good with riddles.

"So? Who wants do go in first?"

The Doctor looked at them asking.

When neither of them reacted immediately, he took the door handle himself.

"Fine, I´ll go first."

 _He really can´t wait a little._

She had to grin a little, while she followed him.

They got into in another corridor. This one was like the inside of a tunnel, with walls of stone and an arched ceiling. It was quite high and wide, but as far as Regina could see there was only one way.

After about 200 feet the corridor bend to the right.

While they made their way along the path, the Doctor was talking about what they could find there.

She wasn't really listening. The question about what she would do afterwards started to bother her.

Regina had to admit that she enjoyed the time with the Doctor. A lot. She had the feeling that it was good for her, it distracted her from her own problems and she could help others. Could be a better person.

And then there was Sylar. What he had just told her… He was like her. Coming of the right path, longing for power but really just wanting someone to understand.

 _And I understand him._

The truth was that she wanted to stay with him, at least for a while. But when she looked at him now she could see that he didn't wanted to be here any longer. And if he didn't stay with the Doctor any longer, how should she keep in contact with him?

She had to admit that she already had made a decision. If Sylar stayed with the Doctor she would too. But if he didn't… She just didn't know. This life attracted her but she couldn't forget about Henry.

 _Is he my only reason to go back?_

She looked at the two men next to her.

 _I want this life._

Hopefully she had more time.

The three of them had now reached the curve.

Then they could look ahead they saw that a few feet away the way was blocked. It looked as if the tunnel had collapsed.

 _It is meant to look like this? Is it another riddle?_

The Doctor pointed his screwdriver at it.

"It seems like the tunnel collapsed." He stated after a moment.

"Oh, really?" Sylar answered sarcastic.

"Perhaps we can just move the stones aside?" He started to make his way over.

"Stop, I´ll do it." Sylar hold him back.

He lifted his hand. A few stones flew away, but immediately other stones broke of the ceiling and replaced them.

Sylar tried again but the result was the same.

 _It can´t just end like this._

Now Regina lifted her hand conjuring many stones away. Again more broke of the ceiling.

"It´s broken we can´t do anything." Sylar´s voice interrupted her.

She ignored him and tried again this time conjuring even more stones away. And again further stones broke off.

She put her hand down. There was no point in trying, Sylar was right.

"It just collapsed. It´s not another riddle." The Doctor spoke in a low voice.

"We can´t repair it. Perhaps it´s better this way." He added looking at her. He must have seen her disappointment.

"Let´s go. There is no point in staying here. Can you bring us back now?" Sylar addressed the Doctor.

"It doesn't has to be your last adventure, if you don't want it to be."

"It´s enough." His voice sounded tired.

The Doctor sighed.

"Fine. If you want it this way." He looked at Regina.

"What about you?" His voice was hopeful.

She was silent for a moment.

"I don´t know." She finally answered honest.

She looked in Sylar´s eyes.

 _Please, stay. We can help each other._

He looked down shaking his head.

"We will bring him back first, you can think about it." The Doctor said.

In silence they made their way back to the Tardis.

 **So this was the second adventure.**

 **It may take a while until the next update.**

 **But don´t worry I haven´t given up on this story- just kind of a writers block.**


	10. Chapter 10

Gabe

The Doctor watched Sylar leave. It was disappointing, he seemed to be an interesting man.

He looked at Regina, who was still looking after him. The two of them seemed to have been quite close.

"What do you think shall we have a look around?" He addressed her. He knew she hadn't made up her mind yet, whether she would accompany him or not and still needed time.

And he hoped that she would stay.

Rivers words echoed in his mind.

" _Don't travel alone, Doctor."_

And Amy had told him the same thing in her afterword for him.

 _Amy._

Thinking of her and Rory still made him very sad.

"Yes, let´s go."

Regina ripped him out of his thoughts and they left the TARDIS.

It was a bright day in New York.

He saw a newspaper on a bank. The Doctor picked it up.

"Oh. It´s 2005."

"What? What is 2005?"

"It´s the year 2005. We are ten years to early."

She looked at him shocked.

"Are you saying we traveled through _time_?"

"Yes, sometimes I aim a little wrong. Ten years isn´t even much. Once I…"

"You travel through time _accidentally_?"

"Like I said, it happens. But mostly I do it on purpose. If you want to, I can show you the future. Or the past. Whatever you want to see."

Regina looked slightly overwhelmed.

"Time travel." He heard her mutter.

"We should look for Sylar. He doesn't belong here."

She nodded.

"And how are we supposed to find him?"

"Don´t you have a trick for this?"

"I would have, but magic doesn´t work here. Or… now."

He shrugged.

"Then we will have to do it the old way. Wait a moment."

With that the Doctor walked in the Tardis. A moment later he came out with a picture of Sylar in his hand.

"The TARDIS has cameras." He explained when Regina looked at him questioningly.

The next twenty minutes they spend with asking people if they had seen him.

At first they had no success but then they addressed a woman who was sitting on a park bench.

She nodded when she saw the picture.

"I think I can help you." She said before turning in another direction.

"VIRGINIA!" She screamed, making them jump a little. Then she returned her attention to the newspaper.

Two woman, about fifty came over looking at them interested.

The Doctor showed them the picture.

"Have you seen him?"

"That´s my son." The woman with the brown hair said. She must be Virginia.

"He looks different than usual. His hair is different." She added.

"Better." The other woman chipped in.

"…And his cloths are different."

"Better."

"…And he isn´t wearing glasses."

"But it´s him?" Regina asked before the other woman could contribute her opinion.

"Yes, for sure. Why are you looking for him? Is Gabriel in trouble?"

So Gabriel was his real name, Sylar was just a title.

He and Regina exchanged a look.

"No, he is fine." He answered.

Virginia nodded relieved.

"He wants to visit me today. If you want to talk to him you can come to me. He will be there in half an hour. He is always so punctual."

She must be talking about the Gabriel in her time. However it was possible that the Sylar they were looking for would want to visit her too.

And where else should they look for him?

"Ok, that´s really nice from you."

* * *

Virginia's house was only a few block away from where they had met her. After they had introduced themselves, she kept talking about what a good person Gabriel was. He was so responsible and so, so special and she never had to worry about him because he would never do anything bad. Regina doubted that this was true. At least the man she had met was different. However from what he had told her she believed that he had changed. Most likely they were about to meet him before this change.

For a moment Regina´s thought wandered back to her life, before her mother had ripped out the heart of the men she loved in front of her eyes. She had been so normal. Well, Enchanted Forest- normal. And given who her mother was, what she wanted for Regina…

She pushed the thoughts away. She was who she was.

"Do you want something to drink?" Virginia asked when they sat down in the living room.

"Tea would be fine." The Doctor answered and Regina nodded.

She wondered whether Sylar´s mother had something to do with his change.

After she started heating up the water she sat down opposite from Regina. The Doctor looked around in the room.

"Do you have children?" Virginia asked her.

"Yes, a son." She hesitated a moment.

"He is adopted." She added.

"Does he know?" The other woman seemed curious.

She nodded.

"Gabe is adopted too. He doesn´t know. It doesn´t matter to me. I love him as if he is my own son."

Regina looked at her, surprised for a moment, than she nodded.

With Henry it was the same.

 _However, when he is the grandchild of the woman you wanted to kill for such a long time, things get a little complicated._

And then she had to think of Snow White, back in the Enchanted Forest, the little girl she had saved, causing so much trouble…

She too, had been like a daughter to Regina or a little sister maybe. At least until she had betrayed Regina…

When Virginia started talking about Gabriel again, Regina got distracted by the Doctor. He had looked at a shelve with snow globes. Seemingly the shelve hadn't stood right in his opinion and his attempts to put it right resulted in it almost falling over. It was only standing because he was holding it, in his hand was a snow globe, which he had caught. While she watched another snow globe fell off. The Doctor managed it to catch it with his foot. He was looking at her slightly in panic, begging her to help him with his gaze. Her magic didn't work, instead she had to fight back a laugh.

She tried to focus on what Sylar´s mother was saying but it was hard to ignore the Doctor.

However, he somehow managed it to push the shelve back into position and put the snow globes back where they belonged. Virginia had obviously heard something, because she turned around, just when he was done.

"Lovely snow globes." He said.

"Thank you, I have the habit to collect them." She answered with a smile.

Before the conversation could go on, there was the sound of a door being opened.

"This will be Gabe." Virginia said. She stood up to greet him.

When she left the room, Regina couldn't help but laugh.

"This is not funny." The Doctor commented slightly offended.

"Oh yes, it is."

The door was opened again and Virginia stepped in, followed by a man.

If she hadn't heard about his change in appearance earlier, she doubted that she would have recognized him. But so she knew that the man who looked like a nerd, was indeed Sylar.

"Gabriel, this are Regina and the Doctor. They wanted to talk to you."

"About what?"

 _Good question._

Since he wasn't the men they were looking for -not yet- they had nothing to talk to him about.

"This book, where do you have it from?" The Doctor asked, indicating to the blue book with the symbol, Gabriel had under his arm.

"Someone gave it to me. Are you here to talk to me about the book?" Somehow he sounded nervous.

"Well, it´s interesting."

He hold out his hand for it. Reluctantly Sylar- or rather Gabriel- handed it to him.

""Activating Evolution" by Chandra Suresh. Very interesting. I have to admit I don't know much about his work, but… there is more about it than most people think. Have you heard of it?" He turned around.

Regina and Virginia both shook their head.

"It´s very interesting." The Doctor repeated once again, handing the book back to Gabriel.

"Well, if there is nothing else what you want from me, I would go. I have things to do."

Regina and the Doctor exchanged a look.

"I think that was it." He said.

Gabriel nodded relieved and said goodbye rather quick.

After he left, Regina addressed Virginia, who seemed to be slightly confused.

"We don't want to bother you any longer." She stood up.

When they were on the street again, she felt disappointed. This hadn't helped them at all.

The Doctor looked pensive.

"I would like to check something in the TARDIS. Is it fine for you to look for Sylar alone? I will be back soon."

She nodded and he left.

Looking for him wouldn't be easy, since she had no idea where. She decided to go in the park. By now Sylar must have realized that he was in the wrong time, so chances were good that he would find her or would make his way back to the TARDIS.

Regina knew that she should make her decision, but it wasn't easy. She hoped that something would happen that would make it less hard.

 _Like Sylar._

* * *

He knew it when he saw the café in the street his mother had lived in. It had been closed in 2006.

 _Time travel, why not?_

When he asked someone for the date -he got a slightly confused glance- Sylar realized that his mother must still be alive. And this wasn´t the only thing he realized. Some hours ago he had talked to Chandra Suresh for the first time. And this evening he would visit him. Sylar knew what this would result in.

He would be disappointed that he seemed to have no abilities. He would see Brian Davis name on the list, would call him and invite him in his watch-shop. There he would kill him. And so many more. Like his own mother. He would become the monster he was. And all because of Mohinder´s father.

It couldn't be a coincidence that he was here on this exact date.

No, he was here to prevent it from happening. And the easiest way was to simply kill Chandra Suresh. He would kill one more human and save so many lives with it.

Knowing it was the right thing to do, Sylar made his way to the house he knew he stayed in.

After he had waited in front of the house for a few minutes, a car arrived and Dr. Suresh got out. He made his way to the house and walked in, suspecting nothing.

Sylar just wanted to break in the house through the window, when he started getting doubts. If he killed him, would he be able to travel back here when it was time? Even if he would, he would have no reason to kill him. _Grandfather-Paradox, Butterfly-Effect._ In literature there were many names for this.

And who even was he without his abilities?

 _Just a normal watchmaker._

Did he really want this?

 _No._

For a moment he just stood there. Then he made his way back to the TARDIS slowly.

And for some reason he was feeling better.

* * *

"Finally, we were looking for you for hours." Regina was relieved to see Sylar.

"I was just… having a look around." He sounded calmer than he had before.

"I suppose you have realized that we are in the wrong time?"

He nodded.

They started walking to the TARDIS.

"I still can´t believe that the Doctor can travel through time so easily." She was still struggling with it.

He just shrugged.

"Why not?"

Regina looked at him surprised.

"That´s no big thing for you, but that the TARDIS is bigger on the inside than on the outside, is hard to believe?"

"Because it´s _physically_ impossible."

"And time travel isn´t?"

"Well…"

They reached the TARDIS and got in.

"I suppose you still want to go back in your time?" The Doctor said. He was standing with his back to them and didn't even turn around.

Sylar hesitated.

 _Does this mean he wants to stay?_

Regina couldn't help but smile, when she looked at him.

She just wanted to ask, but the Doctor had already started to activate the TARDIS.

The noises and the shaking made it hard to talk, so she decided to wait with it till they arrived.

When they finally did, the Doctor immediately addressed Sylar.

"You can get out now." He sounded strange, so cold.

He walked to the door slowly and stopped there.

"Actually, I would like…"

"Did you really think I wouldn't find out?"

Sylar didn't say anything.

"Did you really think that I wouldn't find out that you killed people, many people?"

Again he didn't react.

"Now get out. I can´t let you kill anymore."

"You´re right. But I´m fighting it back. I´m already better." Finally he said something.

"I doubt that this will stay this way. Now get out."

He looked at Regina.

"I don´t know about you, but…"

"I´m not better."

He looked at her surprised. She held eye-contact.

"I´m responsible for many deaths too. But I got better and so can he. Don´t interfere with things that don't concern you."

He took a step towards her and raised his voice.

"Don´t concern me? Do you think the lives of humans don´t concern me?"

"Why are you so obsessed with earth?"

He didn´t respond with anything, but his eyes gleamed dangerously.

Regina turned away and looked at Sylar.

"I won´t leave you alone." She said. He smiled a little.

"Fine, so you will both leave me here."

She knew that on the other side of the door wouldn't be earth. She also knew that if she and Sylar refused to go, the Doctor would have no chance.

And yet they both got out on the abandoned place.

He was right somehow. She had done good things, had helped to defeat Zelena, but when Marian had returned, she was on the best way to become the evil queen again.

When both of them were out of the TARDIS, the door immediately closed and the Doctor left.

She looked around. There were only stones, not even a plant. At least not as far as she could see.

Sylar stepped in front of her, looking in her eyes.

"Thank you." He said. It sounded so honest.

She smiled at him.

They both sat down on a stone, not knowing what to do at this moment.

Eventually they would start looking for a way back to their old, unhappy lives. If it was possible.

But at the moment they just waited.

And then after about half an hour, they heard a familiar sound. They looked at each other, before jumping up.

The TARDIS appeared, exactly where it had stood before.

The Doctor opened the door.

"Come in, we have to talk."

And so they did.


	11. Chapter 11

**One Last Time**

 **Author´s note: I want to thank mordius18 for the review. It made me realize that I just don´t have a connection to this story and it´s characters anymore. So this chapter will end the story and I hope you enjoy it.**

After all three of them had told their stories, there was a moment of silence.

Regina was still a little disappointed with the Doctor, her anger had deceased after he had told his story about Gallifrey and the decision he had made. She was relieved that he had he come back after he had overthought his decision to abandon them, yet his betrayal hurt, after all he always wanted others to trust him.

His behavior had shown that he thought that he, the hero was always meant to fight villains, like them.

The Doctor always seemed so capable of forgiveness and understanding, yet he had done what he had done.

But he had come back.

"So what now? Another adventure?" The Doctor seemed excited and of course he took it for granted that they, the villains had to forgive him, the hero.

But wasn´t it what villains did? Not forgive, but seek vengeance.

At least what was that she had done. It had taken Regina so long to finally forgive Snow.

But in the end she had and that was good.

Looking at Sylar she thought of his motivations. Power.

She had changed, so she could forgive him. But stay?

Maybe it was time to go back to Storybrooke, to her son.

"It´s fine, but I think that was enough." She said.

Maybe, it was time to forgive Emma and the others. To start a better life, not letting her happiness depend on the love of a man.

"I can bring you back, but don´t you want to experience one more adventure? One more time?"

He was almost begging them, she realized.

"I will stay." Sylar said.

The Doctor and Regina knew his true nature and they accepted it. This provided him with the opportunity to use his powers in order to be a hero.

The understanding of the Doctor overweighed his betrayal.

The Doctor smiled at him.

It would be so much better to have companions, as River and Amy had told him.

"When I eventually will go back, please bring me right where I vanished, so that the others won´t suspect anything."

He was overjoyed, it sounded as if the other man would stay with him for longer.

He turned to Regina, hoping Sylar´s decision had changed hers.

"Okay, one more time. But just once. And I too, want back to the day I vanished." Regina stated.

The Doctor clapped his hands and whirled around.

"I know just the planet to show you."

He started the TARDIS pushing away the feeling of guilt, because they had forgiven him.

"Geronimo!"

 **~The End~**


End file.
